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COUNTY 



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DWiGHT G. Mccarty 




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Map of Palo Alto County, Iowa 



History of Palo Alto County Iowa 



BY 
DWIGHT G. McCARTY 




THE TORCH PRESS 

CEDAR RAPIDS. IOWA 

1910 









THE TORCH PRESS 

CEDAR RAPIDS 

IOWA 






it 



TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER WHOSE SELF- 
SACBIFICE AND LOVING ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE 
BEEN THE INSPIRATION FOR THE BEST IN LIFE 
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 



CONTENTS 



Preface 

Chapter I 

Chapter II 

Chapter III 

Chapter IV 

Chapter V 
Chapter VI 
Chapter VII 
Chapter VIII 

Chapter IX 
Chapter X 
Chapter XI 
Chapter XII 
Chapter XIII 
Chapter XIV 
Chapter XV 
Appendices 
Index 



Introduction — ' ' Westward ' ' 
The West Bend Settlement 
The Irish Colony .... 
The Indians and the Spirit Lake Mas 

SACRE 

The Relief Expedition . 
New Settlers .... 

Early Speculative County-seats 
The Political Organization op the 

County 
The Call to Arms . 
A Decade of Growth 
The "Old Town" . 
The New Emmetsburg 
The Period of Development 
Rise of the County Towns 
Our Modern County 



7 

10 
15 
22 

27 
33 
42 
58 

62 
74 
80 
107 
123 
135 
145 
156 
159 
169 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Map of Palo Alto County, Iowa 

A, B. Carter 

W. D. Powers 

John McCormick 

Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Nolan 

Edward and Margaret Mahan 

John Neary 

P. R. Jackman 

Lott Laughlin 

John J. Mahan 

Chas. T. Nolan 

Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Hickey . 

Mrs. Maggie Hickey-McNally 

M. H Crowley 

J. P. Crowley 

Myites Mahan 

Martin Coonan . 

Mrs. Catherine Coonan 

Thos. Tobin .... 

J. L. Martin 

P. F. Van Gorden 

E. P. McEvoY . 

Z. F. Dickinson . 

S. W. Ballard 

The "Old Town" of Emmetsburg 

Threshing for Martin Coonan in 

Geo. B. McCarty 

T. W. Harrison 



Rev. J. J. Smith 

Alex. Peddie 

M, F. Kerwick 

M. L. Brown 

W. J. Brown 

Pat Joyce . 

The New Town of Emmetsburg in 

Emmetsburg in 1881 . 

The Present Emmetsburg 

E. S. Ormsby 

Palo Alto County Court House 



frontispiece 
facing page 17 
facing page 20 
facing page 20 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 22 and 23 
between pages 24 and 25 
between pages 24 and 25 
between pages 24 and 25 
between pages 24 and 25 
facing page 49 
facing page 53 
facing page 53 
facing page 56 
facing page 56 
facing page 88 
facing page 88 
facing page 88 
facing page 88 
facing page 107 
facing page 107 
facing page 109 
facing page 114 
facing page 117 
facing page 119 
facing page 119 
between pages 120 and 121 
between pages 120 and 121 
facing page 123 
facing page 123 
facing page 128 
facing page 128 
facing page 133 
facing page 136 



1871 



1878 



PREFACE 

At the time of the celebration of the Semi-Centennial of 
Palo Alto County, at Emmetsbnrg, Iowa, in July, 1906, I 
was asked to prepare a short history and list of old settlers 
for the souvenir program distributed by the committee. 
The preparation of that sketch led me deep into the be- 
ginnings of the county, and the interest then incited has 
continued to grow as the researches progressed. More- 
over, there has been a deepening consciousness that it is 
our sacred duty to preserve by historical record the events 
and traditions of the past. The intrepid pioneers who 
fought the battles of the frontier in the early days are fast 
passing away and with them the precious storehouse of 
human acts and achievements so vital to any history. We 
cannot longer delay giving justice to whom justice is due 
and preserve for posterity the record of those who in the 
vanguard of progress made possible what we now enjoy. 

During the four years that have elapsed since begin- 
ning this work, I have used many spare moments and 
much of my vacation time in preparing this history. The 
gathering of material has entailed a larger amount of 
hard work and patient research than at first contemplated ; 
and the writing and publication of the book has been com- 
pressed into a few months and crowded to completion for 
fear that the constantly increasing distractions of a busy 
practice might soon prevent any further work upon it be- 
fore its consummation. No one is more aware of the im- 
perfections of the book than the author and it is too much 
to hope that there are no inaccuracies. But it has been 
my purpose to give as completely and accurately as pos- 
sible the history of our county. I have tried to be fair 



8 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

and impartiaL No labor has been spared to make the facts 
thoroughly trustworthy and reliable in every detail. Ref- 
erences and explanations in footnotes have been given 
whenever practicable. But throughout it all the aim has 
been to keep the thread of human interest, the personal 
touch that makes life worth living and history worth read- 
ing. 

The big 1906 Semi- Centennial celebration, lasting three 
days, bringing together as it did the old settlers and re- 
newing forgotten associations, brought to light many val- 
uable reminiscences and stories of the early days. An 
autograph register of all visitors, with the date of coming 
to the county, was a feature of the Old Settlers ' Day and 
has since been permanently bound, together with the ac- 
count of the proceedings and other historical matter, and 
forms a valuable record for future reference. Y^et it is a 
lamentable fact that much valuable historical material 
has been lost and destroyed. The most careful search and 
extensive inquiry among the old settlers has not reveal- 
ed a single copy of the old Democrat, published at Soda 
Bar in 1869, nor of the Palo Alto Advance, published in 
the Old Town in 1870, nor of the Palo Alto Patriot, pub- 
lished in 1873, nor of the Enterprise, issued for a short 
period about the same time. A partial file and one or two 
odd copies of the Pilot, published in 1874, have come to 
light. Complete files of the Reporter and the later papers 
have been rescued from oblivion in old cellars, barns and 
attics. I have tried in vain to find a copy of J. L. Martin's 
sketch of early county history, published many years ago ; 
and even the manuscript of that little book is now lost. We 
have waited until too late to begin the preservation of the 
valuable records of the early days. In fact in a very few 
years there would have been no survivors of the first days 
left to tell the romantic tales now recorded in these images. 

In writing this book, I have relied much upon public 



PREFACE 9 

records, documents, letters, diaries, newspapers, books, 
printed reminiscences, and other sources of this kind. 
But while this has formed the framework, the real body 
of the narrative has come from the old settlers them- 
selves. Many of them have very courteously written let- 
ters and statements of their recollections, and others 
have told me many interesting facts and incidents of the 
early days. Often I have had long interviews with them, 
while our talk was taken verbatim in shorthand and tran- 
scribed for later use and permanent record. It is in this 
way that the history has developed. 

I am deeply grateful for the helpful co-operation of the 
large number who have assisted me. Without the aid of 
many friends among the old settlers, my work would have 
been in vain. It is my one regret that I have not been able 
to talk to more of these rugged veterans of an early day. 

It is impossible to express in detail my deep obligations 
to the many who have so generously assisted me in this 
work, and I must refer to the footnotes for more special 
acknowledgment. 

^' In all that is good Iowa affords the best." We are 
proud of the rich, fertile, progressive county of Palo 
Alto — the very best in a grand state. And if this little 
book shall increase our love and contentment here at home, 
and at the same time perpetuate the memory and worthy 
achievements of our illustrious pioneers, it shall have ac- 
complished its intended mission and perhaps be worthy 
of a place in the archives of our country. 



CHAPTER I 

Introduction — Westward! 

The * ^ Westward Movement ' ' is one of the most im- 
portant facts in American history. Starting with a little 
fringe of colonies along the Atlantic coast, the settlements 
began to spread gradually westward, ever westward, to- 
ward the setting sun. The dangers and hardships of pio- 
neer life on the eastern coast were met and overcome in 
each successive stage of the march westward. The same 
kind of opportunities and difficulties, colored with local 
variations, recurred to make the strong and sturdy growth 
from frontier simplicity to permanent development. It is 
this fact that has given a distinctive quality to American 
life — the self-reliance, courage and independence which 
dominate American character.^ A study of the frontier, 
therefore, will give us the key to our history. 

Moreover, the genesis of any settlement will show the 
basis and character of development. Many distinctive 
characteristics of any community have grown out of pe- 
culiar conditions or incidents in its early history. It is 
this frontier life, with its privations, its battles, its pleas- 
ures, its government, and its crude experiments and com- 
promises, together with the effects of natural conditions 
and environment, that discloses the very beginnings of so- 
cial life. We must study these frontier beginnings as well 

1 Frederick J. Turner, "Significance of the Frontier in American His- 
tory," Annual Report American Historical Assn., 1893, 200-201. See also 
McCarty, ' ' Early Social and Religious Experiments in Iowa, ' ' lotva Histori- 
cal Record, January, 1902. McCarty, Territorial Governors of the Old 
Northwest. 



INTRODUCTION — WESTWARD ! 11 

as later developments if we would appreciate our local 
history. 

Indeed there is a romantic fascination surrounding the 
early days of every community. We listen with thrilling 
interest to the stories of the first settlers, as they recount 
the hardships and dangers of home making on the bound- 
less prairie of a new country. The simple, rugged life of 
these early pioneers in itself has a charm that increases 
with the passing of the frontier line. We admire the 
dauntless pioneer with his ax and gun. We admire his 
persevering labors in spite of obstacles and discourage- 
ment, and we admire his courage in the face of every 
danger. 

On through forest and over plain, westward and ever 
westward pressed the adventurous and hardy pioneers. 
And still farther westward, on over the trackless prairie, 
where the elk, deer, and other wild animals roamed at 
will, and where occasional bands of roving Indians had 
camped and hunted, and departed unmolested. Undaunt- 
ed by the most severe weather, undismayed by the perils 
and hardships of a long journey, they pressed forward 
through the wilderness, leaving their own trail in the tall 
grass of the prairie, crossing the turbid streams as best 
they could, exploring the woods and prairies, ever on the 
lookout for a good location for their new home. The 
frontier line was gradually moving toward the west, and 
these pioneer settlers were the advance guard of the west- 
ward movement. They were willing to undergo all the 
hardships and privations of frontier life in order that they 
might found a home for themselves and their families.^ 

Midway in this westward march was Iowa — the beau- 

1 See the writer's "Early Social and Eeligious Experiments in Iowa," 
in the January, 1902, number of the Iowa Historical Record, for a more 
complete description of the westward movement in Iowa, and the ex- 
periences of the early pioneers throughout the state. 



12 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

tiful fertile land of Iowa. But at the Mississippi progress 
was delayed for a time, as Iowa soil was owned by the In- 
dians and title had to be acquired before this territory 
could be thrown open to settlement. Prior to this, the 
mining settlement of Dubuque had been established ^ and 
several abortive attempts at settlement had been made 
but they were not permanent. During these early times 
trappers and Indian traders roamed over the vast prai- 
ries, cami^ing, hunting and trapping on the banks of 
streams and in wooded places ; but always moving and al- 
ways pushing farther westward ahead of the settlers. 
They were only skirmishers scouting ahead of the real 
army of progress. The few squatters who tried to find 
homes were driven off by the United States soldiers until 
the Indian title was extinguished and the country finally 
opened up for settlement, June 1, 1833. 

Even then actual title was not given until years later 
when the land sales were held, but this fact did not deter 
actual settlers, who flocked into Iowa and began to take 
up the most advantageous locations. The first settlers 
chose claims along the rivers. Burlington and Fort Mad- 
ison were settled in the fall of 1833. Davenport was form- 
ally named in 1836, and Keokuk was laid out in 1837. As 
settlers increased and pushed westward, other towns were 
formed. Iowa City was laid out on the banks of the Iowa 
River in 1839, and became the capital of the territory. 
In the same year the government removed the Pottawat- 
tomie Indians to Southwestern Iowa and erected a fort at 
Council Bluffs. Two Catholic missionaries established a 
mission there, but it was a frontier outpost for some years 
before it was reached by actual settlements. In 1843 Fort 

1 Julian Dubuque in 1788 purchased a tract of land from the Sac and 
Fox Indians and began to work the lead mines. Annals of Iowa, April, 
1896, 330. Salter, Iowa, the First Free State in the Louisiana Purchase; 
Gue, Histary of Iowa, vol. i, chap. U); McCarty, "Early Social and Reli- 
gious Experiments in Iowa. ' ' 



INTRODUCTION — WESTWARD ! 13 

Des Moines was built for the United States dragoons for 
the protection of the frontier from the Indian depreda- 
tions. 

As settlers increased and the hostile Indians became 
more difficult to control, a fort farther north was estab- 
lished in 1849, called Fort Clarke. The name was changed 
a few years later to Fort Dodge. In 1853 the troops 
were moved from Fort Dodge north to Fort Ridgely, but 
the vacated site was purchased and in the beginning of the 
year 1854 the town of Fort Dodge was laid out and there- 
after became the distributing center for Northwest Iowa. 

It was not until 1854-5 that the vanguard of settlement 
spread out into Northwestern Iowa. Prior to that time 
there were only two cabins north of Fort Dodge, that of 
the adventurous Henr}^ Lott, near the mouth of Lott's 
Creek in Humboldt County, and one built by William Mil- 
ler six miles north of Fort Dodge, on the east side of the 
river. These were rival trading posts which did a flourish- 
ing business while the soldiers were at Fort Dodge. Lott 
was a desperate character and was continually stirring up 
trouble with the Indians. The Indians were inclined to 
resent the encroachments of the whites, and freely in- 
dulged their natural trickery in attempts at despoiling the 
settlers. This was of course resisted and trouble often 
followed. These frequent clashes, together with the un- 
scrupulous conduct of such men as Lott, caused a deep- 
seated resentment among the redmen. The Indian depre- 
dations increased and kept the settlers, who were coming 
in, continually alarmed. It was this smoldering resent- 
ment that caused much of the trouble in the years that fol- 
lowed, and culminated in the Spirit Lake massacre of 
1857, and the Indian border troubles of 1862 and 1863. 
These periods will be more fully considered in later chap- 
ters. 

In the face of such conditions as these the earlv settle- 



14 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

ment of Northwest Iowa began. Traders, locaters, sur- 
veyors and stray settlers all carried back to Fort Dodge 
tales of the marvelous beauty of the lands along the east 
and west forks of the Des Moines River. During the sum- 
mer of 1854 Ambrose A. Call and Asa C. Call built the 
pioneer cabin in Kossuth County, on the east fork of the 
river, and that summer and fall a colony of energetic set- 
tlers took claims there. ^ 

At this time the soil of Palo Alto had not been trod by a 
permanent settler. History records one incident of the 
early march across the prairies. The United States troops, 
on their removal from Fort Dodge in 1854, marched north 
to Fort Ridgely and their course took them along the 
river. One evening after a hard day's march, they came 
to a beautiful little lake and made their camp in an oak 
grove upon the shore. A terrible storm raged that night 
and the detaclmient were compelled to stay there several 
days before they could continue their northern journey. * 
In spite of the inclement weather we cannot but believe 
that those gallant soldiers saw the beauties around them, 
for they were in Palo Alto County — the first arrivals 
upon its virgin soil. Its beauties and fertility could not 
long remain unknown and the time was soon to arrive 
for the first settlement of the county. 



1 Sketches by Ambrose A. Call in Algona Upper Des Moines, " History 
of Kossuth County. ' ' 

2 William D. Powers, letter to Semi-Centennial Committee. Gue, History 
of Iowa. 



CHAPTER II 

The West Bend Settlement 

The first settlement in Palo Alto County was made in 
May, 1855. William Carter and son, Fayette Carter and 
wife, and Jeremiah Evans and family selected permanent 
claims on the east bank of the Des Moines River near 
where West Bend now stands/ They came from Benton 
County, Iowa, making their way through the sparsely set- 
tled country by slow-going ox teams, and from Fort Dodge 
following the dim trail to the northwest, known as the 
*' Militaiy Road." It was the route that the soldiers had 
taken in going north to Fort Ridgely, and the subsequent 
supply wagons had left their marks on the prairie grass. 
Slight and uncertain was the trail, but it led these pioneers 
straight to their new home. 

Before making a final location they decided to look 
around a little more, and went farther north, camping on 
May 30th on the east bank of Medium Lake in what is now 
known as Jackman's Grove. As it was late in the season 
it seemed best to return, and early the next morning the 
settlers retraced their steps and began at once to make a 
permanent settlement at West Bend. Samuel McClelland, 
who accompanied them, did not stay but returned home. 
Carter and Evans had taken adjoining claims on a beauti- 

1 These facts about the early settlement at West Bend are from inter- 
views with A. B. Carter, and from a letter written by him to the Semi- 
centennial Committee May 12, 1906. I have often talked to Mr. Carter 
and listened to his interesting tales of those early days. Some important 
facts are corroborated by William D. Powers 's letters to me and especially 
a letter to the Semi-Centennial Committee, .Tune 20, 1906, which is later 
given in its entirety. 



16 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

ful rolling piece of land near the sliore of the river, with 
plenty of wood and water close by — an ideal place for a 
pioneer cabin/ 

On the 31st day of May, 1855, on the line between the 
two claims, the first prairie in Palo Alto County was 
broken with five joke of oxen liitched to a 28-inch plow. 
It was a great day for those settlers, who now began to see 
that nature's wilderness was in fact the provider of their 
future home. In the days that followed, trees were cut and 
roughly shaped into logs, and a log house built. It was 
about 14x18, of rough hewn logs, with no floor, roofed 
over with '' shakes," rough slabs about three feet long- 
lapped over each other, and kept in place by poles placed 
across above them. Only a small piece of ground was 
sown, that spring. Game of all kinds was plenty. Elk 
and deer were often seen, and the settlers fared well dur- 
ing the spring and summer, as they had brought some sup- 
plies with them. 

Some time that summer, perhaps in July, a band of 
Sioux Indians, under the leadership of the famous chief, 
Inkpadutah, came and camped near by. They did not ap- 
pear to be hostilely inclined, but were nevertheless very 
troublesome. The settlers' covered wagons, containing 
all their provisions, were drawn up in the shade of the 
trees about a hundred yards from the Carter cabin, which 
was just being completed. Mrs. Evans saw an Indian 
sneak into one of the wagons and shortly afterward a 
butcher-knife and some small bags of beans were missed. 
The settlers had a very savage dog which they tied to the 
wagon, and it kept such good watch that the Indians main- 
tained a respectful distance, although they longed to get 
their itching fingers on some more of the white man's 

1 This was in section 21, West Bend township. William Carter's son, 
A. B. Carter, still owns the old farm and lived there until the spring of 
1909, when he moved to the town of West Bend. 




A. B. Carter 



THE WEST BEND SETTLEMENT 17 

property. Finally the Indians drove the settlers' cattle 
away, killing and devouring one of the oxen. The rest of 
the cattle were found near the east fork of the Des Moines 
River, a good many miles to the south. The little colony 
was glad to be well rid of this insolent band of Indians. 

In the fall William Carter returned to Benton County 
and brought back Mrs. Carter and their son Ben (A. B. 
Carter), who was then fourteen years old. They traveled 
in a wagon drawn by oxen, and after leaving Fort Dodge 
it was a slow and tedious journey for sixty miles along the 
rough trail over the waving plains of grass. They arrived 
at the settlement in October, 1855, and received a royal 
welcome +o their new home. 

The Ci 'ter and Evans families were the only settlers 
during tl year 1855. They raised some sod corn, forty 
or fifty k shels of buckwheat, and about two hundred 
bushels of turnips. This was considered a good return 
for the few acres of prairie sod. These pioneers did not 
suffer for food, as they had brought flour and bacon with 
them, and wild game was plenty. They threshed the buck- 
wheat with flails, ground it in a coffee mill, and had plenty 
of buckwheat cakes. 

Mr. A. B. Carter, in telling about their experiences, 
says : ''It was very cold here during the first winter, and 
I g-uess we all were nearly frozen to death. Every one of 
my toes and fingers turned black, with frost. One time 
we started to go to Fort Dodge with a load of shingles that 
we had made. There was a great demand for those 
shingles then, and we had three pairs of cattle on the sled. 
Got down about Rutland, and it was getting dark and we 
got stuck in a snowdrift and had to camp there all night. 
We were nearly frozen to death. 

' ' During the winter of '55 a band of Sioux Indians 
camped in our woods about fifty rods from the house. 
From that time on there were adventures every day. The 



18 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

old chief's name was Sleepy-Eye. He was undoubtedly a 
first class man, and kept strict control of the Indians. A 
few things were stolen from us that winter. One thing was 
a hatchet. We had just come home from Fort Dodge. 
The Indians got the hatchet out of our sled, and we told a 
young Indian about it. He shook his head and went to the 
camp. Soon he came back with the hatchet and told us 
who took it. The one who had taken it was the best hunter 
around and a pretty tough one, and that Indian never 
came there again. It showed that the chief had pretty 
good control of them. 

' ' That was a hard winter. The snow was very deep and 
as all wild game was driven away, the Indians came pretty 
near starving. The Indians would watch us grinding buck- 
wheat in the coffee mill and thought we had to work hard 
enough for our living. I used to try and get some of the 
young bucks to try the coffee mill, but only one of them 
would help me and I would divide with him. The Indians 
were in desperate straits for food. My brother and I went 
to Fort Dodge and got a dressed hog and what com meal 
we could bring back, and peddled that to them. They 
bought what they could, and we bought lots of moccasins 
from them. We went to Fort Dodge and traded moccasins 
and furs for provisions. There was one pair of oxen that 
they had noticed we did not work, so they came and de- 
manded that pair of oxen that they had not seen us work- 
ing, as they were about standng. The next day we hitched 
up all the oxen and hauled up some wood to show that 
we needed them. We went to Fort Dodge again and got 
them something to eat. When the wild birds came they 
went up north. Two days after one of the Indians came 
back and stayed with us all summer. He was about my age, 
a young boy, and the only Indian among them who would 
do any work. He came to help do the chores and took quite 
a notion to me, and that was what brought him back. He 



THE WEST BEND SETTLEMENT 19 

helped anything he could, tried to learn the language, and 
learned very fast. He tried to do anything he saw anyone 
else do. We called him ' Josh. ' 

' ' We had hunting experiences — lots of them. In the 
fall of '55 my father and my brother and I came up here 
and I don't remember where we camped the first night, 
but the second night we camped up at Walnut Grove, 
about where the Laughlins settled later. Got up there in 
the afternoon. Were probably four miles from our team, 
when along about four o 'clock we saw a drove of elk, prob- 
ably two hundred of them. We got north of them, within 
a hundred rods, and saw that the main drove was on the 
south of the creek. On the bottom of the pond over beyond 
that, we saw two big elk by themselves. Father tried to 
get these two. He started and as he went along ducks 
would fly up, and we supposed that every time the ducks 
flew the elk would be frightened away, but they did not 
care at all. Father kept gaining on those two ; we could 
see him as he waded through the pond. We lay there and 
watched him. He fired a shot. One elk laid down and the 
other started to run, but stopped in the middle of another 
report. The elk ran, and would stop, and finally the old 
rifle popped again. Father shot seven times and had both 
down — two of the largest elk I ever saw. That was my 
first hunting experience. Deer were plenty. In the spring 
of '56 there were elk with our cattle half a dozen times. 
I wanted to take a gun and get after them, but Father said 
they were poor then and I should wait until they got fatter. 
I never got an elk. In the fall of '56, old Sam McClelland, 
my brother, and I, and this young Indian that I have 
spoken about, went to Lost Island. There had been thou- 
sands of elk there, but an Indian told us that he saw four 
Indians driving them away. ' ' ^ 

1 Interview with A. B. Carter. Some of the details given above regard- 
ing the crop of the first year are taken from a letter of Mr. Carter 's to 
the Semi-Centennial Committee, May 12, 1906. 



20 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Early in the spring of 1856 William D. Powers joined 
the West Bend colony. He tells the story of his coming to 
Palo Alto County as follows: '' I walked through Palo 
Alto under command of Major Sherman on our march to 
Fort Eidgely on the 7th of March, 1854. We marched 
from there to St. Paul and took boats and landed at Jef- 
ferson Barracks and from there took boats up the Missouri 
and landed at Fort Belknap, and from there to Fort Riley. 
I was discharged at that post on August 29, 1855. I 
worked two months in the bakehouse. I served five years 
as a baker. I came to St. Louis and bought one yoke of 
oxen and a wagon and I traveled up through Missouri and 
came up to Dakotah [City] and stayed a few days with Ed 
McKnight. He had a small log house to live in, the only 
one in Dakotah [City]. He brought me down to a steep 
bank of the river where there was a cave. He took me up 
to the south corner of Palo Alto and showed me a piece 
of land to live on. I made my claim on section 34 on the 
21st day of December, 1855. I saw a log house about a 
mile from where McKnight and I were taking a lunch. 
We went up and found Jerry Evans living with his fam- 
ily. He told us there was not a nail in the house. A little 
farther toward the river we found another log house oc- 
cupied by William Carter, father of A. B. Carter, and 
family. I went back to Dakotah [City] and lived in the 
cave all winter. I came up to my claim and put up my 
army tent I had bought in St. Louis. This putting up my 
tent was on the 9th of April, 1856, at what is called West 
Bend now. The country looked wild, no people around. 
However, in the fall some of the Sioux Indians came down 
the river to hunt. There was plenty of game at that time. 
The chief, Och-see-da-washta, with a few of his warriors, 
would pay me a visit and take some dinner with me. I had 
two barrels of hardtack I brought up from St. Louis. 
They are hard biscuit for army use. The winter of 1858 




W. L). Powers 




John McCormick 



THE WEST BEND SETTLEMENT 21 

was a cold and snowy time. We wanted to go to Dakotah 
[City] to get some flour. We could not take any teams 
along on account of the deep snow. So J. Lynn, S. McClel- 
land, and a few more made hand sleighs and tramped the 
snow and dragged our sleighs along and started back with 
one sack of flour and fifty pounds of pork. It took four 
days to go and come. Oh, what a change from those hard 
times ! The Indians would talk about the time I was cap- 
tured by the Yankton Indians at Devil's Lake. But those 
wild times are gone and those dark days are set. The 
bright day of civilization has come. Those wild times and 
thousands of dark hours are gone forever. ' ' ^ 

The natural advantages afforded by the location and 
the fact that they were on the main route of travel to the 
north, combined to give this little settlement a very im- 
portant position. Rugged and persevering in character, 
these first settlers have had a vital and lasting influence 
on the development of the county. 



1 Letter of William D. Powers, June 20, 1906. 



CHAPTER III 

The Irish Colony 

In July, 1856, another notable group of settlers came to 
Palo Alto County. This was a colony of Irishmen from 
Kane County, Illinois, who with brave hearts and stead- 
fast purpose came on into the frontier wilderness in search 
of homes. There were seven families in this colony, and 
it consisted of the following persons : James Nolan, An- 
astasia his wife, Maria his daughter, and two sons, James 
and John F. ; John Neary and his wife, and one son, John 
F. Neary, and one daughter, Mary; Edward Mahan and 
Margaret his wife, Ann and Ellen his daughters, and 
two sons, John and Myles; Martin Laughlin, his wife 
Mary, three sons, Lott, J. T., and Patrick, and one daugh- 
ter, Ellen; John Nolan and wife Bridget, and one son, 
Charlie; Thomas Downey and Ellen Downey his wife, 
and Ellen his daughter; Orrin Sylvester and his wife 
Ellen. Patrick Jackman and Thomas Laughlin, both 
single, came with these settlers though not members of 
the families above enumerated.^ 

There were six ox teams in the party and they wended 
their weaiy way toward the west. Their proposed destin- 
ation was in the vicinity of Sioux City, Iowa, but at Fort 
Dodge they met a man by the name of Lynch, who had 
been with the government surveying party in 1855, and 
who told them of the splendid location for settlers along 
the west branch of the Des Moines River, where there was 
plenty of timber, abundance of good water, and the tall 

1 Interviews with J. F. Neary, Lott Laughlin, J. J. Mahan, Myles Mahan, 
Patrick .Tackman, Charles Nolan and others. 





Mr. and Mrs. J as. Nolan 




Edward and Mar(;aret Mahan John Xearv 





p. R. Jackman 



LOTT Lai'ghlin 





John J. Mahan 



Chas. T. Nolan 



THE IRISH COLONY 23 

grass was ample evidence of the fertility of the soil. Some 
of the party went forward with Mr. Lynch and looked over 
the ground, returning with glowing accounts of the coun- 
try. So the entire party started on the rough trail from 
Fort Dodge. They reached the Des Moines River at last 
and camped in the timber at what is now known as Mur- 
phy's Bayou. They stayed there nearly a week while the 
various members of the party prospected the country and 
selected their claims. While here these pioneers discov- 
ered the first traces of Indians. Two dozen slaughtered 
geese were found hanging in a large elm tree where they 
had been left by the redskins. But the incident scarcely 
more than awakened their curiosity, as they had not oc- 
casion as yet to know the treacherous savage nature that 
was later to spread terror throughout the settlement. 

These pioneers soon moved up the river and settled on 
section 14, in Emmetsburg township, about two miles 
northwest from the present city of Emmetsburg. Such 
brave and sturdy settlers as these were good examples of 
the frontiersman. They commenced with what nature 
furnished them and began to build their homes from the 
prairie and the woods. Although it was getting late for 
plowing, the breaking up of the prairie was at once begun 
by doubling up on their ox teams. The next task was to 
put up some hay for the cows and young stock, which they 
had brought with them in addition to their oxen. They 
built rough shelters for their stock, and as fast as possible 
constructed rude cabins out of logs, the bark still on, and 
the cracks chinked with mud. These cabins all had clay 
floors, and were roofed with '' shakes " or thatched with 
hay, covered with sod. Most of the cabins had cellars or 
*' root houses " as they were called, dug on the outside of 
the house, roofed with logs, and covered over with clay 
and sod. This ' ' root house ' ' had no outside opening and 
was entered by steps leading down from inside the cabin. 



24 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

The cabin fire would keep the frost out of the cellar and 
there was no danger of freezing. Several of the cabins 
had rough fireplaces built in the clay floor and under the 
side logs, well plastered with clay and with a piece of tin 
or sheet iron at the back. The chimney was usually a hole 
in the roof for the smoke to pass through and was in fact 
the most prominent feature about that sort of convenience 
in those days. Plain accommodations, hearty fare and 
plenty of hard work, characterized the daily life of these 
first settlers. 

Little of interest transpired during the first six months 
in their new homes, and except for an occasional Indian, 
or a hunt for wild game, there was little excitement to 
break the routine work on their claims. These settlers 
had come direct from a well settled community, and as j^et 
little appreciated the full value of nature's gifts. Musk- 
rats, beaver, mink, as well as wolves and foxes, were plen- 
tiful. But the settlers knew little about hunting and prac- 
tically nothing about trapping. It was not until 1858, 
when three professional trappers came and camped near 
them, and were offered over $7,000 for their winter's 
catch, that the settlers began to realize the value of such 
pelts. Wild fowl of every kind was abundant. It was a 
common sight to see Medium Lake black with wild geese. 
Deer, antelope, and elk were often seen and two buffalo 
were sighted by some of these settlers that year. Nature 's 
abundance was some compensation for pioneer hardships. 
Supplies and provisions were obtained from Fort Dodge, 
though the settlers had to go to Iowa City for their coim 
meal and made several trips that fall. As the snow was 
very deep the first winter, the men were compelled to 
make trips to Fort Dodge on snow shoes in real Indian 
fashion. If it had not been for the furs for trade, they 
would have found it hard to subsist, as there was very little 
money in those far-off settlements. 



\ 




Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Hickey 




Mrs. Ma(;gie IIickev-McNally 

First White Child Born in Palo Alto 
County 




M. H. Crowley 




J. P. Crowley 



THE IRISH COLONY 25 

James Hickey and wife joined the Irish colony in the 
early fall of 1856, and remained with the settlement dur- 
ing the first winter. Their daughter ( Mrs. Patrick McNal- 
ly), born in October of that year, was the first white child 
born in the county. The following spring the Hickeys 
took up a claim farther south across the river on section 
35-96-33. 

One of the early settlers who came to this county after 
the Irish colony settled here, was Jerry Crowley, Sr., and 
family, consisting of five children, J. P., Michael H., Katie, 
Ellen and John. They came in the fall of 1856 and settled 
in a picturesque grove of natural timber on the west side 
of the river in section 35, in what is now Walnut township, 
about five miles north of the Irish settlement. Mr. Crow- 
ley built a house that fall and then went to Fort Dodge to 
get supplies for the winter. He bought some sod corn 
from Shippey and potatoes from Evans. There were no 
white neighbors nearer than the Irish colony, but in the 
winter of 1856, some time in December, a band of fourteen 
Indians camped in the woods not over twenty-five rods 
from Crowley's house. The family could see the tepees 
plainly from their dooryard. They were good Indians, 
with Sleepy-Eye as their chief, and did not bother the 
Crowleys any during that winter. In fact they were given 
large quantities of flour and other supplies. There were 
three trappers who camped along the river that winter 
and traded somewhat with the Indians. These trappers 
got a great many valuable furs and took them to Fort 
Dodge, but the snow was so deep that they did not get back 
with the supplies in time to trade with the Indians before 
the Indians left. These same Indians left in the spring of 
1857, at the time Inkpadutah's band perpetrated the Spirit 
Lake massacre. Michael H. Crowley, describing the band 
of Indians, says: ''They camped not over twenty-five 
or thirty rods from our house. I used to see the squaws 



26 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

chopping wood. They never tried to molest us. I was al- 
ways afraid of them. One in particular I remember. He 
would come in with a great big club, all tacked full of brass 
tacks. It had a steel spear in the end of it and a skunk tail 
hanging to the end. He was a ferocious looking fellow and 
I never liked him, and was very glad when they left. The 
rest of the family did not seem to be afraid of them. Jerry 
used to go over to the tepees and play with the Indian 
children. They would slide down hill together. ' ' ^ 

Eoger Corcoran, his wife and three children, came with 
Jerry Crowley, Sr. They settled on the south side of the 
river in section 35. It was the intention of Mr. Corcoran 
and Mr. Crowley to take the same claim, buy it, and divide 
the timber. But this agreement was not carried out, as 
the former left the next spring and did not return. 

There was a community of interest and helpfulness per- 
vading this Irish colony. The seven original families had 
located close together in a compact little settlement for 
protection and social convenience. With stout hearts and 
willing hands these sturdy settlers together braved the 
trials of frontier life. This Irish colony, as it was called, 
thus became the nucleus of the settlement in the central 
part of the county and exerted an important influence over 
the community. 



1 Interview Avith M. H. Crowley. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Indians and the Spirit Lake Massacre 

The pioneer family on the western prairie could endure 
with fortitude the life on a lonely claim, but one danger 
continually menaced its peace of mind. The roving bands 
of Indians were generally unfriendly and often treacher- 
ously destructive. Once roused to vengeance, the savage 
nature found expression in deeds of pillage, arson and 
murder that made one's blood run cold. 

Many different tribes of Indians had roamed over the 
Iowa prairies before the advent of the white settlers, but 
all these had gradually drifted westward, and their land 
acquired by the government, until in 1851 the last of West- 
em Iowa was ceded by treaty to the United States. Of all 
the bands of Indians the Sioux were perhaps the most 
ferocious and warlike. They were continually at war with 
other tribes and as they saw the onward march of the 
white settler and felt the encroachments upon their be- 
loved hunting ground, they became sullen and bitter to- 
ward the pioneers. 

Some unfortunate conditions served to intensify this 
feeling. As early as 1847, Henry Lott, an unscrupulous 
ruffian, who had settled far out on the frontier in Webster 
County, organized a gang of desperate characters who 
stole horses and committed many depredations among the 
settlers and Indians. Lett's cabin finally became such a 
notorious rendezvous, that when a band of Indians under 
the chief Sidominadotah tracked a number of stolen ponies 
to his place, they ordered him to leave the county. As he 
did not do so, a few days afterwards the Indians killed his 



:iS HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

cattle, drove his family out, and burned his cabin. Lott 
fled terror-stricken, leaving his wife and children, and one 
of his small sons died from the cold and exposure. Lott 
swore vengeance upon the Sioux, but it was several years 
before he returned. 

The Indians keenly resented the advance of the white 
man and when the surveyors crossed the Des Moines in 
1848, the Indians attacked them, broke up their instru- 
ments and drove them back. This incident led to the estab- 
lishment of Fort Dodge by the government. 

In 1853 Lott and his step-son came back again and set- 
tled on the east branch of the Des Moines River in Hum- 
boldt County, at a place that has since been known as Lott's 
Creek. 

In the following January, the chief of the same band of 
Sioux, unsuspecting, and not recognizing his old enemy, 
camped a short distance from Lott's cabin. Burning with 
hatred and revenge, in retaliation for the death of his son 
and destruction of his property years before, Lott treach- 
erously killed Chief Sidominadotah and his whole family 
except a little girl who hid in the bushes and a boy who 
was left for dead.^ 

The bodies of the chief and his family were brutally left 
where they lay, the camp was looted and burned, and the 
Lotts escaped down the river. They sold the booty and 
hastened still farther west. Several days later Inkpadu- 
tah, a brother of the murdered chief, discovered the bodies 
of the victims, and it was soon known that Lott was the 
murderer. 



1 For the story of Lott and his troubles see Gue, History of Iowa, vol. 
1, pp 289-292 ; Smith, History of Dickinson County, chap. 2 ; Flickinger, 
Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, pp. 27-28, etc. See also an excellent 
article by L. F. Andrews in Des Moines Eegister a/nd header, August 12, 
1907. 

This Indian boy recovered and was afterward known as "Josh." He 
was a frequent visitor at the Carter cabin. 



THE INDIANS AND THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE 29 

The Indians were thoroughly enraged and demanded the 
punishment of Lott, but though attempts were made to 
follow him, he was never apprehended. Not long after 
this the head of the murdered chief was ingloriously 
stuck up on a pole in the town of Homer near Fort Dodge/ 
The failure to punish Lott increased the rage and desire 
for vengeance among the Sioux. The settlers were great- 
ly alarmed, and there was a vague feeling of distrust that 
boded ill for the future. 

Inkpadutah, also known as "Scarlet Point" or "Red 
End," became the chief of the Sioux band. Reckless, 
domineering and cruel, he ruled his tribe with a strong 
hand and his harshness drove many of his followers to 
join more peaceful tribes. His band thus dwindled until 
it became a small group of straggling Indians, who ranged 
the countr}^ throughout the northwest, committing all sorts 
of petty depredations. Harvey Ingham, in an article in 
the Midland Monthly, thus describes their actions : ' ' Ink- 
padutah and his followers contented themselves with 
stripping trappers and surveyors, stealing horses, and 
foraging on scattered settlers, always maintaining a hos- 
tile and threatening attitude. Many pages of the Midland 
would be required for a brief enumeration of the petty 
annoyances, pilferings and more serious assaults which 
occurred. At Dakotah City, in Humboldt County, the cabin 
of E. McKnight was rifled in the spring of 1855. Farther 
north, within a few miles of Algona, the cabin of Malachi 
Clark was entered, and the settlers gathered in great 
alarm to drive out the Indians — a band of eighty braves 
led by Inkpadutah in person. Still farther north, near 
where Bancroft stands, W. H. Ingham was captured by 

1 "Sketch of Early History," by Ambrose A. Call, History of Kossuth 
County, Union Pub. Co. The late Charles Aldrich also had a vivid remem- 
brance of this, and says that the skull was fractured in several places by 
a blunt instrument. L. F. Andrews's article, Des Moines Register and 
Leader, August 12, 1907. 



30 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Umposhota, a leader under Inkpadutah in the massacre, 
and was held a prisoner for three days." ^ 

The winter of 1856 was a very severe one. The intense 
cold and heavy snow was followed by violent storms, and 
the sufferings of the settlers were extreme. Inkpadutah 
and his band had been camping at Loon Lake, but in De- 
cember, 1856, started down the Little Sioux River as far 
as Smithland. Another part of the band was in camp 
near Springfield (now Jackson), Minnesota. 

In February, 1857, the Indians and settlers had trouble 
at Smithland, until the redskins finally were driven away. 
With their savage natures aroused and with a pent-up 
desire for vengeance, the combined band of Sioux started 
north. Inkpadutah knew the defenseless condition of the 
scattered settlers and he determined to wreak an awful 
vengeance upon the countrymen of Henry Lott. As the 
band moved northward they robbed and pillaged with de- 
structive hand, and committed the most barbarous out- 
rages that ever a savage mind devised. No one had been 
killed, however, when with their murderous desires roused 
by these atrocities to the highest pitch, they came to the 
peaceful little settlement on the banks of the lakes in 
Dickinson County. 

Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, the sole survivor of that 
terrible massacre, in a letter written in 1887, thus describes 
that never-to-be-forgotten event : 

''It is with sadness that I recall to memory the ill-fated 
March the 8th, 1857, when Inkpadutah and his murderous 
band invaded the peaceful and happy little settlement of 
Spirit and Okoboji Lakes and completely demolished it. 
It is not thirty years since those horrible atrocities 
were enacted, and having lost all on that sad day that 
made life dear to me, and though wrecked in health, I still 

1 Harv'ey Ingham, Midland Monthly ; Smith, History of Dickinson County, 
p. 38; Abbie Grardner Sharp, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre, chap. vi. 



THE INDIANS AND THE SPIRIT LAKE INIASSACRE 31 

live a witness to those terrible scenes. The outbreak was 
as sudden and unexpected as a thunderbolt from a cloud- 
less sky. The Indians approached and through their pro- 
fessions of friendship got into the house, taking the people 
by surprise, and attacking in such a way that one family 
could not help another. My father was shot down while 
his back was turned getting the Indians some flour. They 
then rushed upon my mother and sister, beating them over 
the head with the butts of their guns, and drove them out 
in the dooryard and killed them. My brother and two 
sisters, all little children, were clinging to me in speechless 
terror. They next seized these helpless children, heedless 
of their piteous cries for the help I was powerless to give 
them, dragging them out of doors, and beating them to 
death with sticks of stove wood. All through their course 
they shot down the men when their backs were turned, and 
then rushed upon the helpless and terror-stricken women 
and children and killed them in the most cruel and shock- 
ing manner. At the time of the massacre I was little more 
than a child of less than fourteen summers, and was with 
three other women taken captive, suffering for three 
months all the cruelties and indignities that Indians only 
know how to inflict. ' ' ^ 

Over forty persons — men, women and children — were 
thus brutally murdered at the lakes,- and the savages, 
after holding their war dance and painting their victories 
in signs upon the smoothed surface of a tree, broke camp 
and moved northward with their plunder to find fresh 
fields for their murderous work. 

Our settlers in Palo Alto County knew nothing of these 

1 From a letter of Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, Aug. 4, 1887, Annals of 
Iowa, October, 1898, p. 550. Mrs. Sharp's book. History of the Spirit 
Lake Massacre, ia a graphic description of the events leading up to that ter- 
rible day, and contains a vivid picture of the massacre, the relief expedition, 
the captivity of Abbie Gardner, her ransom and release. 

2 Abbie Gardner Sharp, History of tJie Spirit Lake Massacre, p. 47. 



32 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

tragedies that were being enacted such a short distance 
away. The news was first brought to them by three men 
from Jasper County — Wheelock, Parmenter and Howe 
by name, who were on their way to the lakes to join the 
settlement ; but when they found the cabins in ashes and 
the dead bodies of the victims lying where they had fallen, 
they hurried back to give the alarm. 

These harrowing reports spread terror throughout the 
whole northwest, and many settlers fled to places of safety. 
The members of the little Irish colony could hardly be- 
lieve that Indians who seemed so peaceful when camped 
so near them that winter could commit such deeds.^ It was 
indeed a miracle that they were spared. But in spite of 
the general stampede to Fort Dodge, the Irish settlers re- 
mained for some time. Their cabins furnished a conven- 
ient station for the soldiers of the relief expedition as we 
shall see in the next chapter. It was only after the soldiers 
of the expedition had all returned home, that the faithful 
little band finally left the colony to seek a refuge at Fort 
Dodge until the following spring. 



1 The late J. F. Neary, a member of the original colony, once told me that 
he thought Inkpadutah 's band camped until March, 1857, in Crowley's 
woods, five miles north of the colony, and M. H. Crowley is of the same 
opinion. But A. B. Carter, who knew Sleepy-Eye and his band very well, 
is positive that it was Sleepy-Eye 's band that camped at Crowley 's and re- 
members Sleepy-Eye telling him that it was Inkpadutah 's band of bad In- 
dians that was killing the whites on the Sioux and at the lakes. 



CHAPTER V 

The Relief Expedition 

The alarming news of the massacre stirred the towns of 
Fort Dodge and Webster City. Public meetings were 
held, and within three days about one hundred men had 
volunteered to go in pursuit of the Indians and to the re- 
lief of the settlers. Such supplies as could be procured 
were hastily gathered and the men organized into com- 
panies. 

Governor Grimes had previously appointed Major Will- 
iam Williams of Fort Dodge as the executive agent to pro- 
tect the frontier, and he now promptly took charge of the 
expedition. C. B. Richards was captain of Company A 
of Fort Dodge, John F. Duncombe captain of Company B 
of Fort Dodge, and J. C. Johnson captain of Company C 
of Webster Ciij. The number of men was considerably 
augmented from time to time by enlistments from the set- 
tlers and others on the way. In all, the expedition num- 
bered about one hundred twenty-five men. 

Realizing that delay would be dangerous for the success 
of their undertaking, they made ready quickly, and March 
24, 1857, started on the difficult journey of over eighty 
miles to the scene of the massacre. The severe cold and 
deep snow rendered their progress slow, and they were 
poorly equipped for such hardships. After four days of 
difficult travel and extreme suffering, they reached the 
Evans cabin on the edge of Palo Alto County. Here nine 
men decided that the hardships were too great and re- 
turned home, leaving the loyal soldiers to fight their way 
onward. 



34 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Several accounts of the progress of the expedition by 
men who marched with the command have been preserved 
and we will let these actual participants tell the rest of the 
storj^^ 

On the morning of the 28tli ' ' the command started early 
and by hard and constant work reached Shippey's at dark. 
At McCormick's, a mile below Shippey's, we found Angus 
McBane, Cyrus C. Carpenter, William B. Pollock, and 
Andrew Hood, who joined Company A and went on with 
us from that point. We also found at Shippey 's a part of a 
load of flour which A. M. Luce had left some weeks before, 
having got this far when the deep snow had rendered it 
impossible to proceed with his load. He had taken what he 
could haul on a hand sled and gone on to his family at the 
lakes. With this we replenished our meagre supplies and 
the next day reached the Irish colony in Palo Alto County, 
where we were able to get some hay for a bed and sleep 
under the cattle sheds. Our teams being nearly worn out 
we got an ox team to help us along. ' ' ^ 

" Sunday, the 29th, was a beautiful, clear day; snow 
melted until long stretches of bare ground could be found, 
and we made the longest march of any day since leaving 
Fort Dodge, reaching the Irish colony, sixteen miles from 
Shippey's. Here all the settlers for many miles above and 
below the river had collected for company during the long, 
tedious winter. They knew nothing of the massacre at 
Spirit Lake until [the news was being carried to Fort 
Dodge] though they were only about thirty-five miles 
away; they were living in little log cabins and dugouts 

1 The Annals of loiva, October, 1898, contains the complete history of 
this remarkable march, graphically told by those who were with the expe- 
dition. The rest of this chapter is taken from these personal reminis- 
cences as quoted in the Annals. See also Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, History 
of the Spirit Lake Massacre; Gue, History of Iowa, vol. i, chap, xxv; 
Smith, History Dickinson County, chap. vi. 

2 Eecollections of Capt. Charles B. Richards, Annals of loiva, October, 
1898, p. 512. 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION 35 

and seemed very destitute; most of them had only been 
there since the summer and fall before and had raised 
nothing. . . [A day or so later a scouting party that 
had been sent out to reconnoitre] met that heroic band of 
refugees from Springfield, Minnesota, where they had 
made a gallant defense, driven the savages back and were 
fleeing from their homes, destitute, having left everything 
but the clothes they had on. Their only conveyance was 
a sled drawn by a pair of oxen, and they were nearly 
starved. Here we camped and did all we could to make 
them comfortable."^ [The next morning the rescued 
party were sent back in charge of the surgeon to the Irish 
colony while the soldiers resumed the march.] 

' ' We fully realized now that we were in the Indian 
country and Major Williams, with his long experience 
among the redskins, took every precaution to guard 
against a surprise. We camped at Big Island Lake, where 
we found fresh signs of Indians. We reached Granger's 
Grove, on the Des Moines River, close to the Minnesota 
state line, that night, where the disappointing news 
reached us that the Indians had left the place some five 
days before, and that a detachment of United States 
mounted troops, sixty in number, were then quartered at 
Springfield. Our whole company was sorely disappoint- 
ed. After having undergone such privations, we hoped 
that though we were not in time to relieve the distressed 
settlers, we might be able to mete out to their murderers 
and torturers the justice they so richly merited. Our pro- 
visions by this time were running short, from the fact that 
owing to the deep snow all the way it had taken us longer 
to reach our destination than was expected. The men 
were so eager to follow the Indians, and leave the teams 
where they were, each man taking what provisions he 

1 Narrative of W. K. Laughlin, Atinals of loica, October, 1898, p. 542. 



36 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

could carry, that Major Williams offered twenty-five dol- 
lars a hundred for a few sacks of flour. But the settlers 
only had part of a load of flour and did not know when 
any more could be had. The Major refused to exercise 
military authority and take it by force, and on the morn- 
ing of the 2nd of April he sent twenty-five men under Cap- 
tain Johnson to bury the dead at Spirit Lake."^ 

Robert McCormick was one of the volunteers who per- 
formed that sad mission. On the return this party suf- 
fered great hardships and two of the number. Captain 
Johnson and Private Burkholder, became separated from 
their comrades and perished in the cold. Their bones 
were found years later in Palo Alto County by William 
Shea on the northeast quarter of section 3-95-33. 

The main body of the expedition returned to the Irish 
colony. * * Here the officers were called together to consult 
as to ways and means to get food to keep the men together 
until we could reach Fort Dodge. The settlers at the 
colony were on short rations and could spare nothing. 
We decided to buy a steer and kill for the party, but we 
had no money and the owner refused to sell without pay. 
We offered to give the personal obligation of all the of- 
ficers, and assured him the state would pay a good price ; 
but this was not satisfactory. We therefore decided to 
take one vi et armis, and detailed several men to kill and 
dress the steer. They were met by men, women and chil- 
dren, armed with pitchforks to resist the sacrifice, and not 
being able to convince them either of the necessity of the 
case or that they would get pay for the steer, I ordered 
Lieutenant Stratton and a squad of men with loaded guns 
to go and take the steer, when, seeing we were determined, 
and that further resistance would be useless, the hostile 
party retired. The animal was soon dressed and dis- 

1 Paper by Michael Sweeny, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 540. 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION 37 

tributed to the men, and for the first time in ten days they 
had a full meal. 

' ' We had hoped the detachment sent to the lakes might 
overtake us, but as they did not come we left what meat 
had not been used for the men, and resumed our march. 
The day was warm until about noon, when a cold rain be- 
gan, making it dreary and dismal. We found several small 
creeks and all the ravines full of water, but crossed all 
without much detention until we arrived at Cylinder Creek, 
about twelve or fifteen miles from the colony, and two 
from Shippey's, where we expected to camp for the night. 
This point we reached about 3 p. m., when we found the 
bottom on the west side one vast sheet of water fully half 
a mile wide. We had become accustomed to overcoming 
obstructions and at once sent two men with poles to wade 
out as far as possible and ascertain the depth of the water. 
Their report was that the men could wade for nearly half 
a mile in water from two to five feet deep, when they would 
reach the channel proper of the creek, which was from 
sixty to eighty feet wide and very deep, with a swift cur- 
rent. We determined to make a boat from our wagon box 
by calking the cracks with cotton taken from our comfort- 
ers and with this (first stretching a rope across the deep 
water) we could wade the men out to that point and run 
them across in the wagon box. . . When we struck the 
swift current we were carried rapidly down stream, but 
by using our poles we managed to get across. As we 
struck the further shore where the bank was steep and a 
lot of ice piled up, our boat shut up like a jack knife, there 
being no braces at the corners. Every man jumped for 
shore and by getting hold of some willows all got out, 
Mason losing his overcoat and hat, and all getting wet. 
When the boat, which went under in the collapse, came up 
it was only separate boards floating down the rapid 
stream, and the rope was gone. The men who had come 



38 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

out to hold one end could not stand the cold water longer 
and had waded back to the main body. We had hoped to 
stretch this rope across the deep water and ferry over the 
men. 

' ' About this time the wind suddenly changed to the 
northwest and was blowing fiercely and very cold, so that 
our wet clothes began to freeze and stiffen. . . In the 
face of that blizzard, for such it had now become, we could 
do nothing. By this time it had grown so dark that nothing 
could be seen of the other shore, neither on account of the 
noise of the wind could we get any reply to our frequent 
calls. We were utterly incapable of further exertion. 
The howling wind and drifting snow was fast obliterating 
the track. We consulted together and determined that it 
was as utterly impossible for us to render any assistance 
to our men as it would have been had they been in mid- 
ocean, and that our only safety lay in getting to Shippey 's 
before the darkness and drifting snow made it impossible. 
It was a terrible walk with our frozen clothes and it was 
nine o'clock in the evening when we reached the cabin. 
Here we passed a night which no lapse of time will ever 
obliterate from my memory, so small was the cabin and 
so cold, and we had only our wet clothes. We warmed 
ourselves by the open fire, had some bacon and bread and 
a cup of coffee — the best thing to revive exhausted na- 
ture I have ever found. We had no blankets, but borrowed 
what the Shippeys could spare from their scanty store and 
spent the night, some trying to sleep, some drying their 
clothes by turning first one side to the fire, then the other, 
all anxious and making frequent visits to the door hoping 
the storm would abate, but each time only to find the wind 
and cold increasing. . . I remember that it seemed as 
if the light of day would never come. The image of each 
man in the command, out in this terrible night, with neither 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION 39 

food, fire or even the protection of a tent, was constantly 
before me."^ 

The main part of the force was thus left on the open 
prairie to face the terrible blizzard. Lieutenant Mason 
thus describes their experiences: '' We were now drench- 
ed to the skin and as the wind had shifted to the northwest 
it rapidly grew cold, and before many minutes our clothes 
were frozen stiff. We were very scantily dressed — few 
of the men having more than an undershirt and a pair of 
pants. I fared as well as any of them, and all I had to 
brave that fearful storm with, was a flannel shirt, a pair 
of pants with one leg torn off at the knee and the seam in 
the other ripped from top to bottom, and one boot with the 
leg cut off, the mate having been burned a few days pre- 
vious. We began to look around for a place to sleep. 
Some of the boys spread their blankets on the ground and 
arranged themselves ' spoon fashion.' Brizee, Howland, 
Hathway, and myself lay behind the hind wheels of a 
wagon. We got through that night, but I hardly know 
how, as the mercury was over 30° below. We were all glad 
to see daylight, but many did not dare to crawl out of their 
blankets that day. The poor boys were almost freezing 
and some of them were becoming delirious. I think we 
were all more or less insane during a part of that terrible 
night. Brizee would frequently put his face to mine and 
beg me to ' go down the creek, only half a mile, where there 
was a big hotel, where we could get a warm breakfast with 
hot coffee.' When I would tell him that it was only a 
dream he would sob like a child and still insist that we 
must go. After daylight I fell into a doze, and dreamed 
that I was at my dear old mother's home, that I had been 
away and had come home hungry, and that she and a f avor- 

1 Beminiseences of Chas. B. Eichards, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, pp. 

517-520. 



40 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

ite sister prepared some toast for me. I can see them now 
as I saw them then. 

" The next morning was still and bright. Mr. Howland 
and myself concluded to cross the creek. We staggered 
to our frozen feet and arm in arm hobbled toward the 
stream. All eyes were upon us as we went out upon the 
ice. We began to feel encouraged but when we neared 
the center of the creek we found a space of open water, 
about thirty feet wide and very deep. We had resolved, 
however, never to return to that camp again, and looking 
up the stream we saw a clump of willows and went up to 
them. Here we found that ice had floated down, lodged 
against the willows and frozen there, thus forming a com- 
plete bridge. After passing the channel we signaled back, 
when a truly joyous shout went up from those poor half- 
insane boys. I will here state that there was not a man 
among our number — about 80 — who had strength enough 
to reach the opposite shore. I do not understand why they 
were so affected, the trouble seemed to be weakness and a 
shortness of breath. Every man's mouth was open wide, 
his tongue hanging out, and in some instances blood run- 
ning from nose or mouth. Shippey's cabin, where Major 
Williams, Captains Duncombe and Richards, and Private 
Smith had been during the storm, was two and a half miles 
southeast of the creek. Howland and I kept together un- 
til we reached the cabin, and were among the last to arrive. 
He, being the stronger, had rendered me considerable as- 
sistance, for which I now, after thirty years, thank him 
most sincerely. Major Williams met us with great tears 
streaming down his furrowed cheeks, and those who had 
remained at the cabin rendered as all the assistance in 
their power. We soon devoured the provisions given us 
and all sank down in the warmth of the sun and slept. We 
were allowed to sleep till about three o 'clock P. M., when 
we were aroused from our slumbers and a consultation 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION 41 

was held. It was decided to disband, separate into small 
squads, and strike out for the nearest settlement. ' ' ^ 

' ' All of the command finally arrived safely except Cap- 
tain Johnson and Wm. Burkholder, who perished in the 
awful storm not far from the Irish colony, on the west side 
of the west fork of the Des Moines River. Some of the 
party, however, received injuries from the exposure on 
the march from which they never recovered. I have doubts 
whether any body of men for the same length of time, on 
any march, ever suffered greater hardships, more constant 
exposure, more severe bodily labor, than those who com- 
posed the Spirit Lake expedition. . . So long as the 
people of Iowa admire pluck and true courage ; so long as 
Americans are freemen, the story of the Spirit Lake ex- 
pedition will be told with pride by every true man of our 
state and by all who are familiar with her history." ^ 



1 Recollections of Frank R. Mason, Annals of Iowa, Ooctober, 1898, p. 
535. 

2 Address of Capt. John F. Duncombe, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, 
pp. 507-8. 



CHAPTER VI 

New Settlers — 1856-1862 

The spring of 1857 was late in coming, but in May the 
settlers had begun to return to their abandoned homes. 
New settlers were picking out desirable locations and 
bringing new vigor and courage into the prairie settle- 
ments. As the spring progressed and the pleasant sum- 
mer weather came, their hope revived and with the pros- 
pect of a good crop the settlement again resumed its 
normal life. 

In order to understand the situation in the county at 
that time, it may be well to go back about a year and de- 
scribe more fully some of the settlers and their families, 
who had begun to select locations soon after the first set- 
tlements were made. In a prior chapter the origin of the 
settlement at West Bend in May, 1855, and the experiences 
of the Carter and Evans families have been recorded. 
Samuel McClelland, who had come out with the Carters 
and Evanses on their first trip, had gone back east but 
returned in the spring of 1856 with his family. He was a 
son-in-law of Wm. Carter and so located his home on the 
west branch of the Des Moines River, about three miles 
north of where Mr. Carter had built his cabin. In July, 
1856, John McCormick, Sr., and his son Robert came to 
this county. As they came west they traveled along the 
old military road until they came to Mr. Carter's, where 
they stopped, as it was the only house at that time along 
the old military road. They spent some time looking at 
the surrounding country with a view to taking up govern- 
ment land and soon after pre-empted seven quarter sec- 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 43 

tions on both sides of the river, in what is now Fern Valley 
township.^ 

An incident is told of these days that illustrates some 
of the difficulties of pioneer life. John McCormick, Jr., 
who lived back in New Jersey, wrote to his brother Robert, 
saying that he would like to have a letter every week. 
Robert replied from Palo Alto, "The frost has busted my 
ink bottle and it is fifty miles before I can get another." ^ 

Soon after this, R. M. J. McFarland, Sr., and a friend 
of his named Jason Simmons came to the county from 
Wisconsin and settled near Mr. Carter. They stayed 
there that fall and winter, but as the winter was very 
severe and the conveniences few, they decided that the 
Palo Alto climate was too rigorous and returned to Wis- 
consin. There may have been other reasons for Mr. Mc- 
Farland 's not staying in the county, as he was single at 
the time but was married not long after his return to 
Wisconsin. Mr. McFarland had pre-empted, in the spring 
of 1858, the northeast quarter of 28, West Bend township, 
but a year or so later sold it to Chas. Coyle (father of 
Judge Daniel F. Coyle of Humboldt) for a yoke of oxen. 
In 1864 his recollections of the beauties of Palo Alto 
prompted him to return and he bought back the old place 
for a span of horses. The difference between the joke 
of oxen and the span of horses represents the rise in value 
of the land during that period. The records do not show 
this transfer, as Mr. Coyle did not think it worth while 
to record his deed and when Mr. McFarland re-purchased 
the land he was simply handed back his unrecorded paper.^ 

This shows in an interesting way the simple methods of 
transacting business and the slight value attached to the 
land in those days. 

1 Letter of Mrs. Ira D. Stone. Mrs. Stone is a daughter of John McCor- 
mick, Sr. 

2 Recollections of John McCormick, Jr. 

3 Letter of B. F. McFarland of West Bend. 



44 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

James Linn came to the county and settled as a member 
of the West Bend colony in 1856. In the same year he 
married Elizabeth Carter, daughter of William Carter, 
and Wm. D. Powers married Ann Carter, the other daugh- 
ter. These were the first two marriages that took place 
in Palo Alto County.^ The members of this settlement 
thus became very closely bound together and mutually 
interested in its success and prosjDerity. Dan Howe lived 
at this settlement in 1856 and also had a claim further 
north. It was about this time that Thos. Campbell set- 
tled in this county not far from West Bend. 

In the fall of 1856, Mrs. John McCormick, Sr., and her 
son James, and daughter Isabel, started from Newark, N. 
J., on their long trip to join the rest of the family at West 
Bend. Mrs. Isabel McCormick Stone, in describing their 
journey, says: "We reached Iowa City on the 17tli of 
November, 1856. My brother Robert came there a week 
later with an ox team to convey us to our home near Rod- 
man. While traveling by those slow stages, we were un- 
able to reach our destination on account of streams and 
the big snow. Added to this, my brother James froze his 
feet and had to have a portion of his right foot amputated 
by Dr. Olney of Fort Dodge, when we got there. We were 
then forced to stop until March with an old lady and her 
son, named Schaffer, who lived near what is now the Glenn 
farm, south of Dakotah City, near the forks of the river. 
This was some time in December, 1856. In March, 1857, 
we left there and by dint of great struggle reached our 
home, where John McCormick now lives, on March 9, being 
on Monday the day after the Indian massacre at Spirit 
Lake."' 

In the spring of 1858, John McCormick, Jr., left New 

i"Some Reminiscences of a Pioneer," Chas. McCormick in Palo Alto 
Beporter, August, 1906. Statement of A, B. Carter. Letters of Mrs. Ira D. 
Stone. 

2 Letter of Mrs. Ira D. Stone of West Bend. 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 45 

Jersey to join the rest of the family at West Bend. After 
reaching Fort Dodge he started out on foot across the 
prairie. He describes his experiences as follows: *'I 
only carried a satchel on my shoulders. Left my other 
stuff at Iowa City. Like the wise virgins, I took oil in my 
vessel. I had several pair of shoes, carpenter tools, etc., 
but left them at Iowa City where the railroad ended. When 
I got to this side of the river, before coming to Billy 
Miller's, there was Badger Creek, with the water running 
very swiftly over a stony bottom. It was all I could do 
to keep my feet. If I had not done so I would have been 
in Des Moines. They used to keep a ferry there, 'Bull's 
Ferry' they called it. The bull would swim the river with 
the people. When I came to Dakotah, they said there 
were still some white settlers up the river. One man's 
name was Miller, a little on this side of Rutland, Humboldt 
County. I stopped with this Miller, this side of Dakotah 
on the edge of the river. He asked me if I had had any- 
thing to eat. It was then getting dark. I said, ' No. ' Says 
he, 'I will fix you something.' He baked some buckwheat 
cakes. I think they got the buckwheat along with the dirt 
and ground all up together. I thought, 'You don't need 
doctors in this country, you are pretty gritty.' I covr-e 
from there on up to West Bend. The house was buili. 
when I got there. There was a little storm-shed around 
the door. No floor in the house. Poles reached across for 
joists and small poles across them so they could lay sods 
over to make the house warm. There was no lumber in 
the county then. The grass was so high we had to stake 
out our two cows. If we had not and had let them go, 
we would never have found them again. Father and my 
brother cooked the meals on two forked sticks. That was 
before the house was built. My brother and I batched. 
Father got a homestead near by. My brother and I lived 
in this first house, batched it eight years without a floor 



46 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

in the house, and baked our bread and ate our meals off of 
a shingle block and got fat. We kept hotel and had plenty 
of custom. Never charged them anything and never paid 
any license. Some of my customers wondered how I baked 
such good bread. We had plenty of good cream, plenty 
of eggs, made it as rich as we could, and baked it in a Dutch 
oven. ' ' ^ 

In September of 1858, Tom, Charles, and Joe McCor- 
mick joined the rest of the family in the new home.- The 
McCormicks were very hospitable people and their cabin 
was the stopping place for all travelers along the road. 
They were always willing to share what little they had 
with all who chanced that way. A very good description 
of the McCormicks' hospitality in the early days is given 
by J. N. Prouty as follows : "In the winter of 1868 and 
1869, 1 undertook to make the trip around the circuit with 
the then circuit judge, J. M. Snyder, who was an old 
acquaintance and had studied law in the same office with 
me. We reached the old McCormick place about sunset. 
The place looked rather forbidding to me. The house 
was two log houses set end to end and half buried in a 
gravel knoll. I think the roof was also of earth or sod, so 
that there was just enough space between the two earths 
for little windows with 7x9 panes. I objected to stopping 
there (I was wearing a silk hat at that time but haven't 
been guilty of it since), but the Judge said it was the best 
place available. We drove up in front of the house. The 
Judge got out of the sleigh, went down a sort of hatchway 
to the door and rapped. A rather large, elderly woman 
opened the door and they greeted each other very cor- 
dially and then the Judge asked if we could stay over night 
there. She said, 'Oh, yes, we can keep you, but you will 
have to take care of your horses yourselves, as the men 

1 Interview with John McCormiek. 

2 "Some Reminiscences of a Pioneer," Chas. McCormick. 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 47 

folks are all gone.' We then drove to the barn, which 
was about ten rods away and built by setting forked posts 
or crotches, as they were then called, in the ground, laying 
poles across, throwing a lot of willow brush on top and 
standing up other and smaller poles on the sides, and then 
covering the whole with the desired thickness of prairie 
hay, leaving a large portion of the south side open for the 
cattle to go out and in at will. The west end had been 
enclosed and partitioned off for a horse stable. We un- 
hitched our horses and led them into the stable. It hap- 
pened that there was a hen's nest in the feed box to which 
I led one of the horses and in the nest were five eggs. I 
said to the Judge, ' I don 't believe I can eat a mouthful of 
food in that house tonight. I am hungry. I can suck an 
egg and I propose that we suck these eggs.' 'AH right,' 
said the Judge. I handed him one and took one myself, 
broke the shell on the manger and swallowed the contents. 
The Judge did likewise. We repeated the performance, 
but when I handed him the fifth egg, he said, ' No, you take 
that; I can eat in that house.' I took it. We then went 
out and viewed the stock. There was quite a large herd 
and among them two tame elk that had been caught when 
calves and reared with the cattle. The Judge kept saying, 
'Let's go in,' but I put it off as long as I could, though the 
weather was cold. As soon as we went into the house 
Mrs. McCormick went out and I had a good opportunity to 
look over the premises. In the middle of the room stood 
a pine board table covered with as nice a clean, white, 
linen table cloth as I ever beheld. On the center of the 
table sat a large plate of buns, baked to a nice brown. On 
one side of the buns sat a plate of potatoes, cooked with 
their jackets on, and on the other side was a platter of fried 
ham. There was also two kinds of fruit, which turned out 
to be preserved wild crabapples and preserved wild plums. 



48 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

On tlie stove sat the tea kettle and the teapot and the skillet 
in which the ham was fried with the grease still in it. In 
one corner of the room was a bed (in which we slept that 
night), with curtains extending from the ceiling to the 
floor. Presently Mrs. McCormick returned, took the skil- 
let off the stove, turned the grease on to the platter of ham, 
then took the teapot and began pouring the tea. As she 
did so, she said, 'Sit up. It's ready. I intended to have 
some eggs for you to eat with your ham, but something 
has taken them.' I liked nothing better than fried ham 
and eggs in those days, but I had stolen my supper and 
eaten it raw. ' ' ^ 

Another early settler in what is now Fern Valley town- 
ship was William Shippey, who built a cabin on the east 
side of the river, a few miles below where the old trail 
crossed Cylinder Creek. He came to the county in the 
spring of 1856, and his cabin was the half-way house be- 
tween McCormick 's and the Irish settlement. For quite a 
number of years his house stood alone without any neigh- 
bors near at hand. Thos. Cahill and Orrin Sylvester were 
two other settlers who settled across the river a few miles 
west from Shippey 's. In the spring of 1857 the Hickeys, 
who had spent the winter with the Irish colony, moved 
across the river to section 35, Emmetsburg township. The 
Hickey cabin stood on the bank of the river, just across 
northwest from what is now known as the Burns bridge, 
where Mrs. Gibbs now lives. In those early days the 
Hickeys kept a small skiff by means of which they ferried 
people across the river. Somewhat later there was a 
bridge, but that was washed out during the spring rains 
and the ferry boat continued to be the only means of trans- 
portation across the river at this point until about 1875 or 
1876, when the county bridge was built. When Mr. Hickey 

1 Letter of J. N. Prouty, Humboldt. 




Myles Mahan 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 49 

was elected county judge he took a prominent part in the 
organization of the county.^ 

In the spring of 1857, Myles Mahan and his wife Mary 
Ann, five sons. Miles E., James, John, Patrick, William, 
and four daughters, Mary, Anna, Maggie, and Esther, 
came to Palo Alto County and selected a location on the 
southwest quarter of section 22-97-33, in the edge of the 
timber near the river. They built a log cabin about 16 x 24, 
which was a large house for those days, and as many as 
sixty persons have stayed all night there.^ They had 
wagon box beds piled one above the other and these could 
accommodate a large number. There was no floor in the 
house, and one little window of one small pane of glass not 
over 10 x 12. The cellar went down under the bed so as to 
keep anyone from falling in. There was a root house 
outside for larger storage, as the inside one was small. 
The cabin was in the edge of the timber and right where the 
bluff slopes off to the east rather abruptly. The cabin 
was then about twenty-five rods from the corner stake of 
section 22. One night Miles Mahan was taking stock of 
his provisions and found that all he had was one sack of 
corn meal. He went to bed with a heavy heart, as it was 
all he had in the world and no money. He had not yet 
gone to sleep when a knock was heard and there stood 
Captain Martin and forty soldiers who were out scouting. 
The Mahans worked all night feeding and caring for the 
company and the next morning the meal was gone, but 
they had $40 in money and felt that they could begin again 
with new energy the pioneer fight for life. At a later 
time Captain Martin and a squad of soldiers brought 
Umposhota and one other Indian on the way to Fort 
Dodge and then to Des Moines where they were to be hung 
for having participated in the Spirit Lake massacre. Mrs. 

1 Those events will be more fully treated in a later chapter. 

2 Interview with M. E. Mahan. 



50 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Malian drew a revolver and was for shooting the Indians 
on the spot, but the captain begged her not to fire and 
finally she put up the weapon. That night the Indians, 
pretending to be sick, went out and started off down the 
bluffs. The soldiers shot after them, but Mrs. Mahan said 
to stop shooting and she would get them, and taking the 
dog with her to track them, started out in full chase. The 
dog got in a fight with the Indian dog, lost the trail, and 
the Indians made good their escape. Mrs. Mahan was a 
type of the fearless frontier woman, who knew no danger 
and no fear.^ The Mahan cabin was thirty-five miles from 
Spirit Lake and the only house this side of Spirit Lake. 
So all the travel from Spirit Lake to Fort Dodge stopped 
at Mahan 's and it was the refuge for weary sojourners 
for many years. For twelve years they kept a sort of 
tavern. J. P. Dolliver stayed there many a night, rolled 
up in his blanket, and slept on the floor, and always had his 
dollar to pay for his lodging and breakfast.^ Myles Mahan 
was a courageous old man and refused to leave even when 
the Indian scare was at its height. Once when the Indians 
were reported as coming, Ned Mahan, who had gone to 
Laughlins for safety with the other settlers, started out 
alone with his gun to meet the Indians so as to have a good 
shot at them. He was also a fearless man. In the sixties 
Myles built a new house 16x24, 12 feet high. This was 
shingled with oak shingles, and was a better house than 
the old one. It was considered one of the best houses in 
Northwestern Iowa. The logs were all scored down to 
six inches thick and carefully laid. In 1858, Myles Mahan 
lined up a road from his house north to Spirit Lake. He 
sharpened willow sticks and set them along in a line to 
mark the trail. Before that the trail was dim and travel- 
ers got lost and couldn't find their way over the vast 

1 Interview with M. E. Mahan. ' ' Early Days on the West Fork, ' ' by 
Ambrose A. Call, in Upper Des Moines Bepublican, August 15, 1906. 

2 Interview with M. E. Mahan. 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 51 

prairie, every one making a track of his own around the 
sloughs and ponds. 

Trapping was the salvation of the early settlers. Uncle 
Ned Mahan made $75 trapping in one day. The sale of 
furs, etc., was what kept the people supplied with money. 

In the fall of 1857, Myles Mahan went up to Mankato, 
Minn., for groceries and supplies and on the return the 
oxen, which were dusty and warm from the long tri]), saw 
Spirit Lake and ran away to get in the water and cool oif . 
They were well trained or they would have dumped all 
that precious load of provisions into the water. x\s it 
was they stood until cooled off and then he started them 
off on the trip home and arrived safely. 

Prairie fires were a great menace in those days. The 
jfires traveled over the prairie faster than a horse could 
run and would jump the river where it was from seventy 
to one hundred feet wide. Many settlers here lost all 
their property and barely escaped with their lives in the 
path of those terrific prairie fires. The grasshoppers 
were a fearful pest in 1873 and later years. M. E. Mahan 
remembers rowing down the river to Emmetsburg when 
the hoppers were a foot thick on the water and more com- 
ing over the banks just like a waterfall.^ 

Patrick Nolan was another who settled in the timber 
along the river not far from the Irish colony in 1857. He 
was jocularly called "Paddy in the Bush" by the settlers, 
to distinguish him from two other Patrick Nolans who 
soon after settled in the county. 

William Murphy came to the county in October, 1857, 
and pre-empted the southwest quarter of 30-96-32 and 
lived there until he proved up. His log shanty was built 
near what is known as the John Doran place. Mr. Mur- 
phy was a single man and did teaming and other work at 
Fort Dodge. After helping lay out the ill-fated county- 

1 Inten-iew with M. E. Mahan, Graettinger. 



52 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

seat on the bank of Medium Lake in 1858, lie that fall re- 
turned to Fort Dodge and as times were hard went back 
east to look for work, and did not return to Palo Alto 
County and settle permanently until May, 1871/ 

Michael Jackman and family built a cabin on the east 
bank of Medium Lake and their hospitable home was well 
known among the early travelers from the east who passed 
that way. They became prominent in the later affairs of 
the county. That old cabin still stands as one of the few 
remaining landmarks of those early days. 

John L. Davis was another settler who came here in 1858 
and lived across the river in Great Oak township, where 
the McCoy farm now is. He had oxen enough so that he 
could run a large riding breaking plow. This was one of 
the first riding plows in the county. He would let his wife 
ride and he would drop corn. He was one of the judges of 
election in 1859 and it is said that there was some difficulty 
in that election on account of several people who tried to 
vote, although they had practically left the county and 
had simply come back for some of their goods. Mr. Davis 
as judge of election made them swear in their vote before 
he would allow them to participate in the election. He 
only stayed in this county until 1860, when he left and did 
not return. ^ It was rumored shortly after he left that this 
man Davis was a horse thief and was a part of the gang 
that was working this whole part of the country. One of 
the vigilance committee from this county who was down 
at Iowa Falls when they rounded up this gang there, re- 
ported that Davis was among the number, but that they 
could not prove anything against him and had to let him 
go. Years later a cave for horses was discovered in the 
bank of the river near his place. This band of horse 
thieves was a notorious affair in 1856 and 1857. They 

1 Interview with William Murphy. 

2 Statement M. H. Crowley. 




Martin Coonan 




^Qt #' 



Mrs. Catherine Coonai 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 53 

were well organized and had various rendezvous and sta- 
tions along the frontier. They became so bold in their 
depredations and such a menace to the communities that 
the settlers organized and finally cleaned the band out in 
1858. They were rounded up by the sheriff and his posse 
in Grundy County, and several of them were hung. A 
number of underground stables were later found and evi- 
dences were abundant as to the large territory covered by 
these transactions. Several of the citizens of Palo Alto 
County remember this band and their operations very 
well. They did not molest the settlers here so much, but 
they were a continual menace to the peace and safety of 
the people and the early settlers were very glad when 
these desperadoes were finally rounded up.^ 

William Reed and family lived near the Davis place. He 
had two sons, and one winter they got lost and were out 
all night and one of the boys froze his foot so badly that 
it had to be taken off. A trapper by the name of Ward 
Whitman stayed with them one winter and made quite a 
large catch. 

Martin Coonan and Catherine his wife, and five boys, 
bought a farm on the bank of the river half a mile south 
of the Irish colony. They moved on to their land in 1858, 
built a cabin and began the work of clearing up the timber 
and preparing for a permanent home. This land is now 
known as *' Riverdale " farm. The important events that 
transpired at this historic spot will be more fully treated 
in a later chapter.^ 

Another new settler was James McCosker, who was 
elected the first county surveyor in 1858. He did not, 
however, remain long in the county. John L. Davis was 

1 Statements by A. B. Carter, M. H. Crowley, M. E. Mahan and others. 
For evidence that this gang operated over a wide territory in Iowa, see 
"Chronological History of Cedar Rapids," Cedar Rapids Eepublican, June, 
1906. Cue's History of loica, vol. i, chap, xxvii. 

2 Chapter xi. 



54 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

the second surveyor to be elected, as lie was chosen at the 
election of the following year. 

" Tom Tobin, his father, mother, and sister Alice, and 
Joe and Kern Mulroney came in the year 1857 and old 
Mrs. Mulroney and Maggie came one year later. The 
Sheas, Coonans, Pendergasts, I think, came in the spring 
of 1858."^ 

Among the other settlers who came to this part of the 
county about this time were: Thomas Maher, William 
Maher, Daniel Kane, Thomas Downey, Thomas Dawson 
and Patrick Lynch. All of these settlers had settled in 
the county by 1860. 

. In the first few years of settlement in the county the 
task of threshing the grain was a difficult one. One of the 
ways devised by Martin Coonan was quite generally used. 
The bundles of grain would be laid on the ground in a 
large circle and then a horse would be led around on the 
circle of bundles and thus stamp out the grain on the 
ground and his hoofs would grind up the straw much as a 
modern threshing machine. They would then gather up 
the grain and holding it up in the air let it fall on to a 
sheet on a windy day when the breeze would blow the 
chaff and dirt out of the grain. It was hard work, but the 
wheat and oats and small crops of other grains were very 
precious in those days with the market so far away and 
grain and feed of all kinds so very scarce." 

' ' Palo Alto got its first mail service in 1858. The first 
trip from Algona to Spirit Lake started July 1st that 
year. The first postoffice was at Jack Nolan's, Mr. Nolan 
being the postmaster. It was called Emmetsburg. When 
routes were established from Fort Dodge to Spirit Lake, 
and Fort Dodge to Jackson, a postoffice was established 

i"Some Eeminiscenccs of a Pioneer," by Chas. MeConnick, Reporter, 
August 2, 1906. See also same article, Semi-Centennial Eeeord, pp. 389-90. 
2 EecoUections of Martin Coonan, Jr. 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 55 

at Mulroney's, called Soda Bar, with Mulroney as Nasby, 
and one at McCormick's on the east side, called Fern Val- 
ley, Thomas McCormick postmaster, and Nolan's office 
was moved over on the river and Martin Coonan made 
postmaster. There never was a postoffice in the county 
called Paoli."^ AVhen the postoffice was first established 
at Nolan's, the mail which came once a week was put in a 
big* milk pan and the settlers would come over on Sunday 
afternoons and pick out their own mail from the pan.- 
This practice also served as a social feature, as the var- 
ious families thus came together at a common center to 
visit and talk over events transpiring in the local com- 
munity as well as the news from the outside world. 

The settlers in the county very early began to inaug- 
urate some needed improvements. Schools were organ- 
ized, religious services were held, better houses were being 
built, and social intercourse encouraged. 

In the summer of 1861, J. P. White taught school in a 
cabin in Walnut township. This was the first school 
taught in the county. M. H. Crowley still has in his pos- 
session a McGuffey's speller with his name and the date 
showing that it is the book that he used at that first term 
of school. School books were procured from Fort Dodge 
and the old settlers say the books they used in those days 
were the same recognized authorities and that there was 
no trouble about different kinds of books or new editions. 
They were always the same; and reading, writing and 
arithmetic, with some geography, was the invariable 
course of study.^ 

1 "Early Days on the West Fork," by Ambrose A. Call, in the Algona 
Upper Des Moines BepuMican, August 15, 1906. The above facts are 
verified by statements of M. H. Crowley, Chas. Nolan, Lott Laughlin, and 
others. 

2 Statement of Chas. Nolan. 

3 Statement of M. H. Crowley, supplemented by the recollections of many 
others. 



56 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

A little later in the same year a log school house was 
built at West Bend, Mr. Carter hauling the finishing lum- 
ber from Boone. Mary E. Mathews of Irvington, Kossuth 
County, was the teacher.^ 

" The first religious service held in the county was by 
Father Marsh of the Catholic church, in the year 1859 or 
1860. Father McComb, a Presbyterian minister, held the 
first Protestant service in the summer of 1860. This ser- 
vice was held in my father's cabin in Fern Valley town- 
ship. A Presbyterian church was organized and services 
held at my father's house. Services were also held at 
Carter's, at old West Bend, at McKnight's Point, and at 
Powhattan in Pocahontas County. The Struthers, Hen- 
dersons, Frazers and others joined this little body of 
church-going people, among whom were Seth Sharp, Percy 
Nowhan, James and John Jolliff e, and Abel Hais, and they 
all did their best to sustain this little Presbyterian church. 
The church survived, though at times it was nip and tuck, 
but in the end all came out right. ' ' ^ 

In the early sixties a postoffice was established at 
Tobin's called '' Soda Bar." This was on the route of 
the weekly mail service from the south and was very con- 
venient for the settlers there. Tom Tobin was the first 
postmaster, but his sister Alice (who later married Thom- 
as Kirby) was the real postmistress for several years. 

About the same time a postofiice was established at 
Hickey's across the river, called " Great Oak." There 
were several large oak trees standing in the Hickey yard 
and this gave the name to the postoffice, and later the same 
name was given to the township when it was organized. 

A lull in settlement occurred in 1861 and 1862. The 
difficulty in getting land titles and the distractions of the 

1 Statement of A. B. Carter. Mr. Carter wa8 the school director who 
hired this teacher and he remembers distinctly that this school started a 
short time after the school in Walnut township. 

2 ' * Some Reminiscences of a Pioneer, ' ' by Chas. McCormick. 




Thus. Toiun 




J. L. Martin 



NEW SETTLERS — 1856-1862 57 

war prevented the further growth of the county for a 
time. This period of growth came to an end, but it was 
only a short time before a new line of development opened 
up for the county enlarged opportunities for progress. 



CHAPTER VII 

Early Speculative County-seats 

Visions of riches made over night has always been the 
dream of the county-seat promoter. If he could only lo- 
cate a town that would become the county-seat, his fortune 
would be made. But many a well laid scheme turned out 
to be only a bubble. The western country in the early days 
was full of such " stake-towns " and towns on paper. 
Palo Alto was no exception to the rule, and the story of 
the early attempts to locate a county-seat presents an in- 
teresting chapter in our history. 

As early as 1858 three Fort Dodge speculators, Hooli- 
han, Cahill, and Cavenaugh by name, came up to Palo 
Alto County. They brought a surveyor with them and 
made extensive plans for laying out a town. William 
Murphy, then a young man who had come to this county in 
October, 1857, and pre-empted a claim ( southwest quarter 
of section 30-96-32), and was living there for the purpose 
of proving up, and was also doing teaming from Fort 
Dodge, was employed to assist in laying out the town. A 
site was selected on the west bank of Medium Lake at its 
southern extremity, where Call's addition to our present 
county-seat is now platted. This was but a mile and a 
quarter from the log cabin of Martin Coonan, on the east 
bank of the Des Moines River, at the place which is now 
known as the Riverdale farm. 

These parties surveyed and staked out a town and then 
proceeded to build a log court house, store, and black- 
smith shop. As yet the town was without a name, but one 
day when the buildings were well under way the four were 



EARLY SPECULATIVE COUNTY-SEATS 59 

talking the question over. Hoolihan, wlio was a very well 
educated man and an enthusiastic champion of the cause 
of the oppressed Irish, suggested that they name the town 
after Robert Emmet, the fearless Irish patriot, of whom 
he was a great admirer. In order to distinguish it from 
Emmet County, the name ' ^ Emmetsburg ' ' was finally 
agreed upon, and the four men returned to their work, 
full of hope for the future which was to see their town of 
Emmetsburg the metropolis of Palo Alto County. Their 
dreams were in fact realized many years later, but they 
did not reap the benefit, and it was only after many tem- 
porary expedients and many vicissitudes that Emmets- 
burg became the thriving county-seat that it now is. But 
alas for their hopes ! Their money gave out and they were 
obliged to abandon the enterprise and return to Fort 
Dodge. 

This town was therefore never officially platted, or filed 
for record. The buildings stood for some time, until they 
were probably hauled away by someone who, no doubt, 
considered that he needed the logs a great deal more than 
did the stakes in the abandoned town. Although the ven- 
ture was a financial failure and disappointing to the high 
hopes of its promoters, yet the name * ' Emmetsburg ' ' 
clung to the stake-town, and persisted through the vicissi- 
tudes of fortune until it was finally preserved to posterity 
and became an important factor in our county's history.^ 

In 1859 another attempt was made to establish a county- 
seat. John M. Stockdale, representing a syndicate of 
speculators from Fort Dodge, bought up the swamp land 
of the county in payment for which he agreed to build a 
court house and school house. He was an influential man, 
besides being on the inside of state politics, - so he easily 

1 This description follows the facts as given by Wm. Murphy, who 
remembers them distinctly, and he is corroborated by others. 

2 Stockdale was a cousin of Samuel J. Kirkwood, governor of the state 
in 1860. 



60 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

secured the appointment of county-seat commissioners 
favorable to him/ Accordingly Judge C. J. McFarland, 
district judge of the 5th Judicial District of Iowa, ap- 
pointed Cyrus C. Carpenter of Webster County, John 
Straight of Pocahontas County, and William Pollock of 
Webster County, to locate the county-seat of Palo Alto 
County. On January 3, 1859, they located it on the north 
half of section No. 6, in township No. 95 north, range No. 
32 west of the 5th P. M., on the town plat of Paoli. This 
was a town on paper, supposed to be located on what is 
now known as the Dooley, or Consigny, farm, two miles 
south of Emmetsburg. It was here that Stockdale had 
procured control of the land and proposed to build the 
county-seat as a nucleus for a thriving city. 

In accordance with his contract with the county. Stock- 
dale began to build a brick court house and school house 
at Paoli, but the work dragged along and when completed 
the court house fell down and was rebuilt one-half as large 
as the original specifications called for. Considerable liti- 
gation resulted over this, but was finally compromised. 

Somehow the new town did not prove attractive. Court 
was held there for a time, but the judge and others in at- 
tendance had to go several miles away to the nearest set- 
tler for their meals and lodging, and so the bleak old court 
house was finally abandoned for more comfortable quar- 
ters and soon fell into decay. The time had proved in- 
auspicious for the founding of a town, the surrounding 
territory was not sufficiently settled to make a town neces- 
sary, and the plans of the promoters of the county-seat 
failed utterly. 

Thus the county lost the money they put into the public 
buildings and the speculators failed to realize their antici- 
pated profits. The town of Paoli never was more than a 

1 See sketch of ' ' Early Days ou the West Fork, ' ' by Ambrose A. Call in 
Algona Upper Des Moines, August 15, 1906. 



EARLY SPECULATIVE COUNTY-SEATS 61 

possibility. The frost finally cracked the walls of the old 
court house so badly that ' ' the settlers considering it dan- 
gerous to their stock which congregated inside to fight 
away the flies, made a bee and tore it down. ' ' ^ Later the 
bricks were hauled away and a few years afterward no 
trace remained on the prairie of the once loudly heralded 
town of Paoli, the county-seat of Palo Alto County. 



1 "Early Days on the West Fork," by Ambrose A. Call. 



CHAPTER VIII 

TJ%e Political Organization of the County 

No community of people can long exist without the 
formation of some sort of local government. That ' ' man 
is by nature a political animal ' ' is as true in our age as in 
the time of Aristotle. The early settlers in various parts 
of Iowa felt that the territorial or state government was 
too remote or too inefficient to help them, so they formed 
" claim clubs " to protect their lands from claim jumpers 
and their homes from frontier violence/ and these same 
clubs were the first law and order organizations in the new 
country. 

The early settlers of Palo Alto County began to feel the 
need of a county organization, soon after they had become 
permanently settled in their new home. That portion of 
Northwestern Iowa had been a part of the original Fayette 
County established in 1837 by the Territorial Legislature 
of Wisconsin, and after Iowa Territory was formed was 
continued under the name until 1847.^ 

The 3rd General Assembly of the State of Iowa passed 
an act establishing forty-nine new counties, this act hav- 
ing been approved January 15, 1851.^ Palo Alto County 
was in the list and the boundaries then imposed have ever 
since remained unchanged. The events of the Mexican 

1 See the author's "Early Social and Religious Experiments in Iowa," 
in the January, 1902, number of Iowa Historical Record, and works there 
cited. 

2 Journal Wisconsin Territorial Legislature. See also an excellent series 
of articles on the establishment and boundaries of the Iowa counties, by 
Prof. Frank H. Garver, Iowa Journal of History and Politics, July, 1908, 
January, 1909, and .July, 1909. 

3 Laws of Iowa, 1850-51, p. 27. 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 63 

War were still fresh in the minds of the legislators, and 
they named this county after the memorable battle of Palo 
Alto/ 

The northwest part of the state was, however, still un- 
settled, and so for governmental purposes the county of 
Palo Alto was attached to Boone County in 1853.- In 1855 
it was attached to Webster County '^ for election, judicial 
and revenue puiposes."^ It thus remained as a part of 
Webster County until a separate county organization was 
established in 1858. This was an uncertain and unsatis- 
factory arrangement for the early settlers of the county, 
and gave rise to much inconvenience and some litigation. 
One case over a land title was carried to the Supreme 
Court, which decided that a conveyance of lands in Palo 
Alto County made in the year 1857 was properly recorded 
in Webster County, and that such record was constructive 
notice to a subsequent purchaser after the organization of 
Palo Alto County.* It is easy to see what a continuing 
train of difficulties would follow such dual allegiance, as 
well as the trouble incident to traveling such a distance to 
the county-seat. 

In 1858 the settlers took definite steps towards organiz- 
ing a county government. An election was held October 
2, 1858, but as the necessary preliminaries had not been 
taken, it proved illegal. The settlers then drew up a peti- 
tion and sent it to Fort Dodge. Luther L. Pease, then 
county judge of Webster County, granted the petition, 
and called an election to be held Dec. 20, 1858. This was 
the first regular election held in Palo Alto County. James 
Hickey and James Nolan were the election judges and the 
voting was done at Thomas Downey's cabin for the north- 

1 The battle of Palo Alto was the first decisive %'ictory of the Americana 
in Mexico, May 8, 1846. 

2 Acta 3rd General Assembly, Lows of Iowa, 1853. 

3 Acts 5th General Assembly, Laws of Iowa, 1855, chap. 142. 
* Meagher vs. Drury, 89 Iowa, 366. 



64 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

em settlers and at Wm. Carter's cabin for the settlers in 
the southeast of the county. All the settlers in the county 
were Democrats, but the campaign was spirited on person- 
al issues and soon developed a factional fight. The Hick- 
eys and Nolans became bitter rivals. Ed Mahan went 
down to West Bend to work for James Nolan and Elias 
Downey for James Hickey. The Carter colony people all 
voted for Hickey, while the McCormicks voted for Nolan. 
This alignment turned the tide in favor of the ' ' Hickey 
party ' ' and elected their entire ticket.^ 

The canvass of the election board showed that there 
were 44 votes cast with the following result : 

County Judge — James Hickey 27, James Nolan 17. 

Clerk District Court — Felix McCosker 27, Martin 
Coonan 17. 

Treasurer and Eecorder — John Mulroney 27, Martin 
Laughlin 17. 

Drainage Commissioner — John Shea 27, Eobert Ship- 
pey 17. 

County Surveyor — James McCosker 27, James Ship- 
pey 17. 

Coroner — Orrin Sylvester 23, Jerry Crowley 17. 

Sheriff — Thomas H. Tobin 28.^ 

All of these officials were elected for the term of one 
year. It is noticeable that all the candidates were from 
the Irish colony or near by and that the south part of the 
county was not represented among the county officers. 
The county appears to have been divided into two districts, 
Palo Alto township and Cylinder township, and as there 
were two voting places this division was at first evidently 

1 These facts as to this first election were given me by James Hickey, 
and A. B. Carter. The memory of each is marvelously clear as to dates 
and events of the early county organization in which they took such promi- 
nent parts. See also Register of Elections, vol. i, county auditor's office. 

2 Register of Elections, vol. i, pp. 8 and 9 ; office of county auditor, 
Palo Alto County, lovra. 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OP THE COUNTY 65 

for election purposes, as well as for administrative con- 
venience.^ 

In addition to the county officers, the following local 
officials were elected at the same time : 

Joseph T. Mulroney and John Nolan were elected con- 
stables, and Lott Laughlin township clerk, for Palo Alto 
township for one year. 

Samuel McClelland was elected constable and township 
trustee, and Wm. D. Powers clerk for Cylinder township 
for one year. 

James McCormick and Wm. D. Powers were elected 
justices of the peace for Cylinder township for two years, 
and Thomas H. Tobin and John Pendergast were elected 
justices of the peace for Palo Alto township for two years. ^ 

Thus the new county was provided with a full set of of- 
ficers. The county judge was the most important of these, 
as at that time the county judge was the executive, legis- 
lative and judicial branches of the county combined. He 
performed all the duties that are now discharged by the 
board of supervisors, had powers now exercised by the 
district court in its probate and county jurisdiction.^ be- 
sides having most of the duties now performed by the 
county auditor and county attorney. As the local court, 
he had extensive judicial powers, he made all contracts, 
and controlled the aifairs of the county ; as financial head, 
he levied the taxes and controlled their collection, and he 
alone had power to expend the county funds. He also had 
custody and control of all county property and had large 
powers as to submitting questions to vote and calling elec- 
tions. The county judge, in short, controlled absolutely 

1 There is no official record of such division or the boundaries of these 
two towTiships, but the Register of Elections, vol. i, p. 4, shows certificate 
of election of justices of the peace, township clerks and other officers, Dec. 
20, 1858, for both "Palo Alto Precinct" and "Cylinder Precinct." 

2 Register of Elections, vol. i, pp. 3 and 4 ; auditor 's office. 

3 Code, 1851, chap. xv. 



66 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

the general policy of the county and was in a position to be 
an absolute dictator. Such concentration of power in the 
hands of one man may have been conducive to efficiency, 
but it was a dangerous tendency. It was an unusual sys- 
tem of local government introduced in Iowa by the Code of 
1851 and lasted until 1860 when a board of supervisors 
was provided to take over the administrative powers.^ 

With such broad and absolute powers we can readily see 
that much would depend upon the character of the man 
elected to the office of county judge. If he were extrava- 
gant or arbitrary or dishonest, he could do incalculable 
harm to the county and its people. On the other hand, if 
honest and able, he would be in a position of authority that 
would do much to guide and encourage a healthy develop- 
ment of the community. 

James Hickey was the man selected by the settlers of 
our county as the first county judge. It was a position of 
honor and power and so well did Judge Hickey perform 
the duties of the office that he was re-elected and served 
until 1861. He was a competent official and kept the 
records in good order and was fair and impartial in dis- 
pensing frontier justice.- 

The other officers were sworn in before Judge Hickey 
and were ready to perform the duties of their offices. De- 

^ Laws of loica, 1860, chap, xlvi; 46; Eevision 1860, sec. 303. 

2 In a personal letter to the author under date of July 6, 1906, the late 
Charles Aldrich, founder of the Historical Department of Iowa, said: 
" In the summer of 1858 Cyrus C. Carpenter, afterwards governor of the 
state, and I journeyed together to Spirit Lake. I was going there on a 
matter of business, and my young friend Carpenter went with me to show 
me the way, as the road for the most part was but a dim trail. We were 
six or eight days on this expedition. In Palo Alto County we stayed all 
night with Judge Hickey, who lived in a log cabin. I remember that the 
Irish family were a people of very considerable intelligence. They were cer- 
tainly very hospitable and ministered to us as far as their resources permit- 
ted. In those days I traveled considerably through Northwestern Iowa, 
staying with the settlers whenever night overtook me, but I have today no 
pleasanter recollections of entertainment than those connected with the home 
of James Hickey." 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 67 

cember 29th Judge Hickey ordered the books for county 
records and Thos. Maher was allowed $15.00 for hauling 
the books, papers, seals, etc., from Fort Dodge. ^ We can 
imagine that these frontier officials did not find their du- 
ties burdensome, and that each officer found ample room 
in his own cabin for the records of his office, during these 
early days. 

The county had no sooner been organized than C. J. 
McFarland, judge of the 5th Judicial District of Iowa, ap- 
pointed Cyrus C. Carpenter of Webster County, John C. 
Straight of Pocahontas County, and William P. Pollock 
of Webster County, to locate the county-seat of Palo Alto 
County. The instructions to the commissioners were " to 
locate said county-seat as near the geographical center as 
may be, having due regard for the present as well as the 
future population of said county. " " In accordance with 
these instructions the commissioners met and on January 
3, 1859, they located the county-seat on the north half of 
section 6, township 95, range 32, on the town plat of Paoli.^ 
This was the visionary county-seat whose history has al- 
ready been recorded in the last chapter. 

On December 29, 1858, James Hickey, county judge, 
having previously advertised for bids, entered into a con- 
tract with Andrew Hood of Webster County, the lowest 
bidder, by the terms of which Hood was to select and sur- 
vey the swamp and ovei^owed lands of the county, and 
make full maps and plats of same. He was to receive four 
and one-half cents per acre therefor, payable in bonds of 
the county on certain terms prescribed in said contract.* 

1 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol i, p. 5, auditor 's oflace. This rec- 
ord book was thus designated until the Board of Supervisors took charge. 
Thereafter the same book was used and known as Minute and Supervisors' 
Record of Palo Alto County, vol. i. 

2 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 1. 

3 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 2. 

* Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 11. The record is also 
supplemented by statements of Judge Hickey. 



68 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Accordingly Mr. Hood proceeded to select, classify and 
survey the so-called swamp land of the county. 

Under the law of the state at that time, these swamp 
lands could be sold and the proceeds used by the county 
for erecting public buildings. In order that the county 
might have a court house and other public improvements, 
Judge Hickey entered into a contract with William E. 
Clark of Baltimore, Md., to build a court house and school 
house at Paoli and two county bridges across the river, in 
return for which the county was to deed him the swamp 
lands.^ 

The contract with regard to the court house called for a 
brick building, 36 x 50, two stories in height, of very plain 
construction, using brick made in the vicinity. It was to 
be heated by stoves. The building was to be divided by 
partitions on the first floor into a hall and four offices for 
the county officers. Above was the court room furnished 
with '^ seating made of good planks oiled and varnished." 

The school house was to be a one-story structure, built 
of brick, 20x24 feet in size, with twelve-light windows. 
The contract also covered two county bridges over the 
river, one near section 7-95-32, and the other near section 
21-94-31. 

Judge Hickey on December 19, 1859, issued a proclama- 
tion calling a special election, in accordance with the pro- 
visions of sections 114 and 115 of the code of 1851 and acts 
subsequent thereto, to determine whether or not the county 
would approve of deeding the swamp lands to build public 
improvements.^ It was the general custom among the 
counties in the northern part of the state to do this, as it 
would provide adequate public buildings and other im- 
provements without the necessity of bonding the county or 
saddling a heav>^ debt upon the people who were not able 

1 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, pp. 25-40. 

2 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, pp. 35-40. 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 69 

in those times to bear any such burden. The vote was 
therefore favorable and approved the contract.^ This 
contract was assigned to John M. Stockdale, who was the 
real party in interest, but who did not want his name con- 
nected with these matters at first. 

The contractor began work, but as labor was scarce 
there was considerable delay, and an extension of time was 
finally granted.- The court house was poorly built and 
when almost completed it fell down, and was rebuilt one- 
half as large as the original specifications called for. 
Court was held in this court house for a year or two, the 
judge, lawj^ers, court officers, jurors, and witnesses going 
two or three miles to the nearby settlers for their meals 
and night's lodging, as there was nothing but a school 
house at Paoli besides the court house. But the lone court 
house with scarcely any furnishings, was bleak and dreary 
at best, and one cold winter day, when the old cracked 
stove refused to heat and the clerk said his fingers were 
too cold to write in his docket, the judge ordered the sheriff 
to find new accommodations for the court, and thereafter 
court was held in a more comfortable house wherever con- 
venient and the old brick court house fell into decay. 

It was unfortunate that the site chosen for the county- 
seat did not prove permanent, as the county in fact got lit- 
tle use out of the public buildings, paid for by land which 
then was of little value, but now is being drained and made 
into valuable property. It is a curious example of the per- 
versity of fate. 

Before we pass on, the following verbatim copy of speci- 
fications for a bridge, which was contracted for in Decem- 
ber, 1859, for the road crossing Silver Creek, may perhaps 
prove of interest to those wishing to know something about 
pioneer bridge building : 

1 See chapter vii. 

2 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i. p. 58. 



70 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

" Specifications — The bridge is to be 19 feet long, in- 
side of sills, the stringers 4 in number, to be each 23 feet 
long of good sound logs, dressed on the upper side so as to 
allow the floor to lay flat upon them. The width of the 
bridge to be 16 feet and the flooring of the same to be of 
two sets of split puncheon, each puncheon to be pinned 
down with i/^-inch pins on two stringers, the pins to be 
drove so that their points shall converge. The abutments 
are to be of height sufficient to bring the floor to the level of 
pins drove in each end of the bridge. And the ground on 
each end of the bridge to be filled up so as to bring the 
roadway to the same level as the bridge. ' ' ^ 

The appointive power of the county judge was called 
into use several times during the year 1859. The county 
clerk elect, Felix McCosker, having left the county and 
failed to qualify. Judge Hickey on January 8, 1859, ap- 
pointed Thomas Maher in his place." Mr. Maher qualified 
and held office until he resigned shortly before the election 
of 1859, and Michael 0. Hickey was appointed as clerk 
until the time of the election.^ On July 1, 1859, Andrew 
Hood was appointed county sui-veyor.* 

On the first Monday in May, 1859, the record shows that 
Judge Hickey appointed Michael Mahan assessor of 
" Palo Alto township."^ This act is of considerable sig- 
nificance, as it indicates the development of the local gov- 
ernment. The assessor is the first local officer who comes 
into close touch with all the people of the community. It 
is the first step in the levying and collecting of taxes, and 
thus is one of the important elements in self-government. 

On October 11, 1859, occurred the first state election in 
which the settlers of the county had been privileged to 

1 Minute Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 20, auditor 's office. 
2 Register of Elections, vol. i, page 2 ; statement of Judge Hickey. 
3 Register of Elections, vol. i, p. 10. 
* Register of Elections, vol. i, p. 10. 
6 Register of Elections, vol. i, p. 10. 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 71 



participate. Forty-seven votes were polled in the county, 
three more votes than in the previous year. It was the 
first opportunity for the party affiliation of the settlers to 
assert itself and the result was decisive. The three new 
comers since the last election cast the only Republican 
votes. ^ 

The Democratic candidate for governor, Augustus C. 
Dodge, received 44 votes, and Samuel J. Kirkwood, the 
Republican, three votes. The other state officers received- 
about the same vote. For senator, John F. Duncombe re- 
ceived 45 votes and L. L. Pease 2 votes. For represent- 
ative, F. M. Corey 32, John E. Blackford 15.- 

The result of the vote for county officers was as follows : 

Palo Alto Cylinder Total 
County Judge — 



James Hickey 


12 


14 


26 


Martin Coonan 


20 


1 


21 


Treasurer and Recorder — 








John M. Mulroney 


15 


14 


29 


Washington Reed 


17 


1 


18 


Clerk of District Court — 








Thos. McCormick 


12 


14 


26 


Ward B. Whitman 


19 




19 


Sheriff— 








James McCormick 


12 


14 


26 


James Nolan 


20 


1 


21 


Coroner — 








R. F. Carter 


11 


14 


25 


J. Crowley 


20 


1 


21 



1 Judge Hickey states positively that there were none but Democrats in 
the county at the first election and that the three new settlers cast the three 
Republican votes in 1859. I have found no other settler who disputes 
this fact. The McCormicks who came the previous fall, are said to have been 
the first Republicans. 

2 Register of Elections, vol. i, pp. 11-14. 



72 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Palo Alto Cylinder Total 



Drainage Commissioner — 








Joseph T. Mulroney 


12 


14 


26 


Martin Laiighlin . 


20 


1 


21 


County Surveyor — 








John L. Davis 


12 


14 


26 


John Shippey 


20 


1 


21 



Michael Hickey, Acting County Judge; Wm. D. Powers, 

Justice of the Peace ; James McCormick, Justice of the 

Peace — County Canvassers. 
Certified by James Hickey, County Judge.^ 

The election was in fact very uneventful as far as can 
be learned, and the only diversion appeared to be the 
friendly rivalry for the local offices. It is to be noticed that 
the Carters and McCormicks from the south part of the 
county now appear as strong factors in the result. 

Little of interest transpired in the county during the 
year following and the records show that there was very 
little county business. Several vacancies in the county 
offices were filled by Judge Hickey. December 24, 1859, 
A. B. Carter was duly appointed sheriff of the county, and 
Michael Hickey was duly appointed county surveyor April 
2, 1860. 

As the fall of 1860 rolled around, the county entered 
upon its first presidential campaign. The bitter fight that 
was being waged in some parts of the country was not felt 
in Palo Alto County. While our settlers were far from the 
settled parts of the country and thus not in the thick of the 
great national campaign of that year, yet by visits to Fort 
Dodge and other points, and from newspapers and new 
arrivals, they kept posted as to what was transpiring. The 
fact that our settlers were almost all Democrats and fight- 
ing Democrats at that, did not tend to encourage the two 
or three loyal adherents of Lincoln, nor promote an open 

1 Register of Elections, vol. i. 



THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY 73 

campaign of any warmth. But the interest in the election 
was genuine, and when the votes were counted it was 
found that the Stephen A. Douglas electors had received 
29 votes and Abraham Lincoln 4 votes. The new party- 
members rejoiced in the gain of one vote over the preced- 
ing election. The total vote of only 33 was so light as to 
show that the vote of the county was not out. The follow- 
ing county officers were elected : Lott Laughlin, clerk of 
the district court ; John Mulroney, treasurer and recorder ; 
James Nolan, surveyor; Martin Goonan, sheriff; John 
Nolan, justice of the peace ; Michael Graham, constable. 

The county of Palo Alto by 1861 had established a reg- 
ular county government that was working smoothly and 
efficiently. The settlers had become familiar with the du- 
ties of the various offices, and the elections were conducted 
in a manner that would do credit to an old established 
community. Although crude in many ways, the political 
organization of the county at this time was firmly estab- 
lished on a working basis. But events of another nature 
were looming up dark on the horizon and we must turn for 
a time to the consideration of other matters. 



CHAPTER IX 

The Call to Arms 

The great question of slavery, smoldering for years in 
a divided nation, had been kept confined by a series of 
compromises. But compromise was becoming more and 
more difficult to maintain and in 1860 completely broke 
down. The fire so long repressed burst forth with re- 
newed fury. The South, not stopping to consider the cost, 
not realizing their lack of numbers and their industrial 
and commercial inferiority as compared with the larger 
North, defiantly forced the issue and determined to sep- 
arate from the Union and form a country of their own that 
would protect the institution of slavery. But this course 
was fatal to the Southern cause. Secession was a blow at 
the Union and the North rallied to its support with a pa- 
triotism that never could have been aroused for the sup- 
pression of slavery alone. ''The Union Forever" be- 
came a rallying cry and the boys in blue, fighting for the 
Union, were more than a match for the gallant boys in 
gray. 

Even on the frontier plains of Iowa, the news of the 
great conflict was eagerly discussed. The pioneers were 
loyal and when the call for volunteers came they respond- 
ed nobly. The names of the brave boys who went to the 
front are spread upon the honor roll in the history of the 
state of Iowa. 

Palo Alto County, although almost on the outpost of 
civilization, came forward with her quota of loyal sons, and 
throughout the war contributed as strength permitted to 
the call of duty. The population of the whole county in 



THE CALL TO ARMS 75 

1860 was only 132, a large number of these being women 
and children and men too old for military service. The 
percentage enlisting in the Civil War and in the northern 
Border Brigade was therefore veiy large, considering the 
needs and dangers of frontier settlements. 

A. B. Carter of West Bend was the first to enlist from 
this county. He went to Fort Dodge and enlisted August 
2, 1861. A company was formed there of young men who 
were desirous of getting into active service as soon as 
possible, and when opportunity offered they joined Colonel 
Harvey's regiment of Pennsylvanians. They reached 
Washington October 6, 1861, and were given the place of 
honor as Company A, Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry. 
This western company saw active service, during the en- 
tire period of its enlistment, in the eastern army, and was 
a credit to Iowa throughout the war.^ 

In 1862, James Linn and Wm. D. Powers enlisted in 
Company I, 32d Iowa Volunteer Infantry. This regiment 
was in active service until it was mustered out in June, 
1865. It was this gallant regiment that bore the brunt of 
the Confederate charge at the battle of Pleasant Hill, and 
though losing half of their men in the deadly battle, fought 
gallantly against heavy odds and turned certain defeat 
into victory.^ 

Joseph McCormick enlisted in 1863 and went to the 
front. This gallant soldier met his death at Memphis, 
Tenn., and was buried in the National Cemetery. 

The county desiring to keep its quota full, hired two 
substitutes, paying them in advance in county warrants 
at 30c on the dollar, amounting to $2,600.00. The super- 
visors also ordered that $10,000.00 in warrants be drawn 
' * if needed to raise volunteers provided they can be pro- 

1 Letter of A. B. Carter. Gue, History of Iowa, vol. ii, p. 411. 

2 Gue, History of Iowa, vol. ii, pages 319-23. A summary of the service 
of the 32d Iowa will be found in the same chapter quoted above. 



76 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

cured. "^ The zeal and patriotism of the county out- 
stripped the necessity, as this was one more than the quota 
called for. The two substitutes were supplied, however, 
and the warrants were later redeemed at par, so the coun- 
ty paid well for this service. 

But while the war was being waged in the Southland, a 
different danger threatened the settlers on the northern 
borders of Iowa. The news of the Sioux outbreak in Min- 
nesota, under the leadership of Little Crow, in the fall of 
1862, brought again the haunting fear of the savage red 
man.'^ In August of that year the warlike Sioux started 
on a murderous journey through Minnesota, working 
south until they arrived at New Ulm, where the terrified 
people had hastily gathered and raised a barricade for 
protection. The Indians, 500 strong, attacked the town. 
The prompt arrival of reenforcements alone prevented a 
general massacre, as the Indians were only beaten off 
after two days' desperate fighting. The redskins with- 
drew and continued their depredations on scattered set- 
tlements. 

The settlers fled in terror to the towns for protection, 
and as the news traveled onward the people in the border 
counties of Iowa became alarmed. Public meetings were 
held at Algona and Estherville and volunteer companies 
formed. 

Governor Kirkwood promptly took steps to raise forces 
for the protection of the border. He ordered S. R. Ingham 
of Des Moines to proceed to Fort Dodge and other points 
and organize a sufficient force, placing arms and ammuni- 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, no. 1, p. 68, Jan. 2, 1865. 

2 The facts concerning the Indian uprising and the organizing of the 
frontier forces are condensed from an interesting and accurate article, 
* ' The Iowa Northern Border Brigade of 1862-3, ' ' by Capt. Wm. H. Ingham, 
in Annals of Iowa, October, 1902, pp. 481-523. That description is fully 
substantiated by the recollections of Lott Laughlin, Jeremiah Crowley, and 
others. 



THE CALL TO ARMS 77 

tion and the power of the state at his disposal. At Algona 
he authorized Mr. W. H. Ingham to enlist forty men to be 
furnished by Humboldt, PaJo Alto, Kossuth and Emmet 
counties. This company was quickly recruited and organ- 
ized as Company A, with W. H. Ingham of Algona as cap- 
tain. The following men enlisted from Palo Alto County, 
their age, residence and nativity being given in the official 
roster as follows : R. Fayette Carter, 31, Paoli, Palo Alto, 
Ohio, 2nd Sergeant; Jeremiah Crowley, 18, Emmetsburg, 
Palo Alto, Ireland; Patrick Jackman, 22, Emmetsburg, 
Palo Alto, Ireland ; Lott Laughlin, 23, Emmetsburg, Palo 
Alto, Ireland; Keiran Mulroney, 19, Emmetsburg, Palo 
Alto, Ireland ; Joseph T. Mulroney, 26, Emmetsburg, Palo 
Alto, Ireland.^ 

Twenty men from this company were stationed at 
Estherville under the command of Lieut. Coverdale and 
the other twenty were ordered to Iowa Lake under Lieut. 
McKnight. Later the whole of Company A was located at 
Estherville under Captain Ingham, and spent the fall and 
winter in building a stockade fort and preparing suitable 
quarters. 

Four other companies were raised and stationed along 
the northern border, forming a complete chain of out- 
posts. Guns and ammunition were distributed to the set- 
tlers in the various counties. The report to the governor 
shows among the list the following : "To Martin Coonan 
for the use of settlers in Palo Alto County ; five lbs, pow- 
der, 10 lbs. lead, 300 percussion caps. ' ' The troops were 
well drilled and well supplied with the necessary equip- 
ment. 

These prompt and efficient measures had the desired 
effect and the Indians were turned to the northward, and 

1 ' ' Iowa Northern Border Brigade, ' ' Annals of lotva, October, 1902, pp. 
513-4. 



78 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

did not molest any settlers in Iowa. Gradually confidence 
returned, and with the added security of the stockades all 
ready for an emergency, the troops were mustered out in 
the summer and fall of 1863. 

Although Palo Alto County was not on the extreme 
border, it was near enough to share the anxiety and fear of 
the time. The Spirit Lake massacre of 1857 was still 
fresh in mind and the remembrance of those horrors so 
near their settlements made them prompt in their assist- 
ance for the defense of the border from Indian invasion. 

Capt. W. H. Ingham thus sums up the results : "As to 
the services of the Northern Border Brigade, the results 
show that it served an excellent purpose in preserving the 
settlements of the northwestern border and thereby pre- 
vented much suffering and an immense loss of property to 
the citizens of the state. From the reports heretofore giv- 
en, it will be seen that the brigade promptly met and car- 
ried out all of the objects set forth in Governor Kirk- 
wood's General Orders No. 1. By a wise distribution of 
its forces at frequent stations on the frontier, and under 
the able management of Col. Sawyers, the brigade un- 
doubtedly did much in preventing the Indians from invad- 
ing the state. The companies comprising the brigade con- 
structed works at the different posts well suited for the 
purposes for which they were made, as shown by Col. Saw- 
yers 's final reports. These works, together with the pres- 
ence of the troops, gave a genuine feeling of security not 
only to the settlers nearby but to all others that were in 
any way concerned, so that many who had left their homes 
during the excitement soon afterward returned. The 
brigade was made up of strong, earnest, loyal men, well 
fitted by pioneer experiences to meet any emergency that 
might occur, and its survivors may well take pride in hav- 
ing been members and of helping to render the last service 



THE CALL TO ARMS 79 

ever required by the state for protection of its northern 
border from invasion. ' ' ^ 



1 ' ' Iowa Northern Border Brigade, " by W. H. Ingham, Annals of Iowa, 
October, 1902, p. 511. 



CHAPTER X 

A Decade of Growth — 1863-1872 

During the Civil AVar, while the attention of the whole 
nation was centered upon the great question involved in 
the internecine conflict, there was practically no move- 
ment toward western settlement. Conditions were too 
unsettled and the young men of the country who were in 
the army had little time to think about going west. Hardly 
had peace been declared before the people of the eastern 
and central states began to follow Horace Greeley's ad- 
vice to go west and grow up with the new country. From 
1864 on, settlers began to flock in great numbers into Iowa. 

The Homestead Law, approved by President Lincoln 
May 20, 1862, was another incentive to settlement after 
the war. By this law the land was given to the settler by 
the government at a nominal price in consideration of set- 
tlement and cultivation. Later enactments made special 
concessions to soldiers of the Civil War. Most of the 
homesteaders went to Fort Dodge to make their proof, but 
the extreme western tier of townships in Palo Alto County 
belonged to the Sioux City land office. 

Another fact of importance is that with the coming of 
the homesteaders after the war the building out on the 
prairie began. Before this the settlement had been along 
the lakes and rivers where timber was plenty. The early 
settlers had thus abundant material from which to build 
their houses which were always made of logs. As the de- 
sirable timbered locations were soon all taken up, the 
homesteaders were compelled to locate out on the open 
prairie and build homes of sod, thatched with hay, and 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 81 

covered again with sod. To the early settlers it seemed 
foolhardy to build out on the unprotected prairie without 
shelter from the hot sun, the fierce winds and the terrible 
prairie fires. But these hardy settlers had come west to 
build a home and make a farm, and the broad and fertile 
plains offered the finest opportunity for the farmer set- 
tler. Groves were soon planted around the little homes 
and before long the growing trees formed a windbreak 
and furnished needed firewood. In a few j^ears these 
beautiful groves dotted the landscape, giving a finer ap- 
pearance to the county and adding real value to the land. 

During the early part of the war practically no settlers 
came into Palo Alto County. The whole population in 
1863 was only 142 people. In the next two years the num- 
ber had increased to 216. From then on an ever-increas- 
ing tide of settlement flowed into the county until in 1870 
the census showed a population of 1,336, and in 1873 the 
number was about 2,000, although no census figures were 
taken that year. From 142 to 2,000 represents a remark- 
able growth for a single county in a single decade. It is the 
history of this period of growth that is now to be consid- 
ered in detail. 

In 1863, on the last day of July, Geo. J. Jacobs and fam- 
ily of five children came to West Bend and settled three 
and a half miles west of where the town of West Bend now 
is. Mr. William Carter was postmaster then, the post- 
office being located in his cabin and was known as " West 
Bend." H. H. Jacobs, then a lad ten years old, in tell- 
ing their experiences says : ' ' We burned out the first fall 
we were here, '63. After we got our hay all uj) and the 
sheds fixed, father was up helping Campbell put up his hay. 
It was late in the fall and there was a big prairie fire 
started down toward Pocahontas, on that side of the river. 
We could see the smoke coming. The wind blew terribly, 
and the grass on the river bottom was way up. Mother 



82 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

was scared, with no one but just us children home. She 
put me on a horse to go after Father about two miles 
away. I went after him but before we could get back the 
fire jumped the Des Moines Eiver and came right up 
through there. There was a colt in the stable and a pig 
in the pen. Mother got the colt out but could not get the 
pig out. The pig was in a rail pen and broke out somehow 
and did not burn. We burned out slick and clean. Just 
the house was left. The grass was all tramped off around 
the house and of course it was a log house with a sod roof 
and it didn't burn, but the family nearly smothered from 
the smoke. We were left there without hay or anything. 
There was a place down on the river that had burned in 
July and Father and John McCormick, who had a mower 
(the only one in the county) went down and cut hay. Fath- 
er and Campbell had to put up all their hay with a scythe. 
McCormick went down there and cut part of it with a 
mower. Guess we got 10 or 15 tons of hay. It helped 
out some that winter and then we had to haul hay from 
Mulroney's and Tobin's and we let out part of the stock. 
Let Dawson have one yoke of oxen. Lost horses that 
winter and lost two or three head of cattle. Did not have 
feed enough. That was one of the hardest winters here. 
'63 and '64. Joe Mulroney froze his feet. I lielped 
Bickle to put up hay once after. We saw a fire way off 
miles away but never thought of it coming. Along in the 
evening it kept coming. I don't know why he didn't know 
enough to back fire. About midnight it got there and we 
had a hard time to get the wagon out with a load on it. 
Just got it out and that was about all. His sheds and all 
went, hay and everything. Fort Dodge was the nearest 
trading point and that was forty miles from West Bend. 
I made several trips there with oxen. Never had money 
enough to buy a meal on the road and have ground corn 
in a coffee mill for my dinner. One spring, the time the 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 83 

water was so liigh, Father and two of the neighbors got 
the seeding done and started to Estherville to mill with 
what little wheat we had left. There came a freshet and 
they were gone eight days. Before they got home we were 
planting corn. The last dinner we had we ground up what 
little seed corn there was left, in the coffee mill. When 
we got home Mother had biscuits and that is all the supper 
we had. The men got home before morning. I broke 
prairie all one summer with a yoke of oxen. We lived 
on johnny cake for a month there. The only time we got 
any wheat bread was when we went home. Father could 
not stand johnny cake only a little while at a time. "^ 

In 1864 the Kirby family, Michael, Henry, Thomas, 
William, and Lizzie, came and settled near the Tobin- 
Mulroney settlement at Soda Bar. Jas. P. White was 
another settler about this time who soon exerted an im- 
portant influence in the county. He was elected county 
treasurer in 1865 and held the office three times. 

After the war several new settlers came into West Bend 
township. Among them were C. G. Groves, John DeWitt, 
Jas. Johnson, Ira D. Stone, Joseph Knapp, John P. Bickle, 
Dan Ditch, Jeremiah Kelley, and a man named Herrick. 
About the same time Galbraith, B. Franklin, Dr. Under- 
wood, Goldtrap, and H. L. Joiner located on the west side 
of the river. 

On the east of West Bend in 1865 the Dorweiler family 
settled in what is now Garfield township, Kossuth County, 
there being no settlers nearer than seven or eight miles. 

John M. Hefley, who had been one of the pioneer settlers 
of Fort Dodge and a valiant soldier in both the Mexican 
and Civil AVars, brought his family to Palo Alto County 
in 1865. 

Among the other settlers of that year were Robt. 

1 Interview with H. H. Jacobs. 



84 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Carney, Sr., John, W. T., and Robert Carney, Jr., Dennis 
Carroll and wife and son Patrick, James F. Nolan and 
Lawrence Burns. 

John Doran came to Palo Alto County in 1865 and 
settled in Great Oak township. Only four families were 
living there then, Jas. P. White, Michael Kirby, Eobert 
Carney and Lawrence Burns. There were no other set- 
tlers on the west as far as the Little Sioux River. ^ 

Mr. Doran, telling about the early settlers' experiences 
in the county, says : ' ' Sometimes the winters were very 
severe. The winter of '66-7 was the longest, coldest and 
hardest that I can remember. It set in very cold early in 
December and as there was no snow on the ground until 
about the first of January, the ground was then frozen 
about four feet and the ice in the river about three feet. 
About the first of January it began snowing heavily and 
drifting and for three months there were two blizzards a 
week of three days each and all the change was from cold 
to colder. On the 10th of April there was an average of 
three feet of hard snow on the ground and more coming. 
About April 12th it commenced raining hard and heavy 
and kept at it for about two weeks. On the 15th the river 
broke up and there was some water on the bottoms about 
that time."- The severity of these winters out on the 
open plain can hardly be imagined by people of the present 
day. With no groves or wind breaks, the snow drifting 
and blowing for miles over the level plains made nearly 
every snow storm a virtual blizzard, dangerous to any 
person caught away from habitation and a serious menace 
to the live stock driven helplessly about in the storm. The 
severe weather and terrific storms were among the real 
dangers that the pioneers had to contend with. 

In 1866 J. G. Crowder, with his wife and four children, 

1 Letter of John Doran. 
2 Letter of John Doran. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 85 

together with John McCoy, came and settled in Great 
Oak township, and Patrick Lynch returned to his place. 

In June of the same year Orrin Sloan, wife, and two 
sons, W. S. and David, settled on a homestead on section 
34, Fern Valley township. Shippey and the McCormicks 
were the only other settlers in that township and the West 
Bend settlers were the nearest neighbors on the south and 
a man by the name of Hatch over in Kossuth County was 
the nearest settler on the northeast. To the northwest 
was Bill Crooks 's claim and then Neary's on the way to 
the old town of Emmetsburg. 

Other settlers in 1866 were Michael Martin, his wife, 
three sons, Jerry, John and Tom, and six daughters, the 
Moncrief family, Henrj^ Grace and W. H. Grace, William, 
Robert and Thomas Shea, T. J. Lyon and wife, Andrew 
Lynch, D. H. Halstead, T. C. Wilson, Chas. Nolan, C. S. 
Warren, Chas. Hastings, Isaac Stewart, Le\d Ashley, 
James Brennan, Wm. E. Cullen, Thomas Walsh, Thomas 
Laughlin, Myles Ryan, and Patrick Neary. 

"VMien Mr. Stockdale was building the old court house 
at Paoli he brought up from Border Plain, near Fort 
Dodge, a steam saw-mill and used it to saw lumber to use 
in the construction of the court house and school house. 
The settlers used to get most of their lumber there. Dur- 
ing the war the old saw-mill lay unused and neglected, but 
some time after the close of the war a man named Martin 
bought the saw-mill and took it down to Tobin's and Mul- 
roney's and did a lot of sawing for the people of that 
neighborhood. Later the old mill was taken up to Spirit 
Lake and afterwards bought by Fort Dodge parties and 
taken down there. ^ This old mill was of great service to 
the settlers and many still recall the hardships and diffi- 
culties they encountered in getting logs to this mill and 
hauling back the lumber to their homes. 

1 M. M. Crowley 's statement. 



86 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

It was some time in the later sixties that the first thresh- 
ing machine was brought into the county by a man named 
Peterson. It was one of the old-fashioned horse-power 
machines, but it was considered a great thing in those days, 
and it saved a great deal of work and time over the old 
methods of threshing out with a flail or stamping out the 
grain with horses. 

The old court house at Paoli was another source of 
trouble during these years. The county judge had in 
1859 made a contract with Wm. E. Clark to build a brick 
court house and school house at Paoli, the then county 
seat, and this contract had been assigned to John M. Stock- 
dale. The work had been commenced but lagged along 
and had finally been abandoned with the buildings still 
unfinished. 

At an adjourned meeting of the board of supervisors, 
held on Monday, the 5th day of January, 1865, the Paoli 
court house contract came up again. It appearing that 
John M. Stockdale, who had bought the rights and title of 
Wm. E. Clark, the original contractor, in the contract and 
the swamp and ovei-flowed lands, had failed entirely to 
carry the work to completion within the required time, the 
damages to the county were fixed by the board at $1,800 
and John F. Duncombe was employed by them to bring 
suit against Stockdale and his bondholders. Any moneys 
collected on the above suit were to go toward completing 
the aforesaid court house or erecting another as the board 
might direct.^ Suit was commenced and judgment secur- 
ed by the county against the contractor. A special meet- 
ing of the board of supervisors was held at the office of 
the county clerk on the 14th day of August, 1866 (James 
H. Underwood, Joseph T. Mulroney, and John Nolan, 
supervisors, and James Hickey, clerk, being present), for 
the purpose of making a settlement between the county of 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' K€cord of Palo Alto County, no. 1, p. 71. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 87 

Palo Alto and John M. Stockdale and others about the 
judgment against said Stockdale and others for $9,750 in 
favor of said county for damages for the non-completion 
of the Paoli court house. After due deliberation of the 
board in regard to said matter, said judgment and all 
matters and disputes between Stockdale and others and 
the county of Palo Alto were settled and compromised.^ 
The terms of the compromise are set out in full in the legal 
document printed in Appendix B to this book.^ Thus 
ended a long controversy and a rather expensive and 
unfortunate experience for the county. The supervisors 
advertised for bids and completed the court house for 
$1,060. 

The court house and school house were poorly located 
and so bleak and dreary that they could not be used in 
inclement weather and the county officers preferred to 
have offices in a more thickly settled region. At a meet- 
ing of the board in June, 1866, all county officers were 
ordered to move to the court house at Paoli, but in Novem- 
ber of the same year the board recognized the necessity 
of finding more comfortable quarters on account of ''no 
provision for heating."^ 

Some light is cast on the interior and furnishings of this 
old Paoli court house in the report of a meeting of the 
board held on November 10, 1868. At one end was a plat- 
form 6x8 feet and 18 inches high. The seating consisted 
of 12 benches and 24 arm chairs. It was heated by two 
box stoves. The desks were two in number, of black 
walnut. The specifications call for ''2 desks and cab- 
inets made in the same style as the one now in Jas. P. 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' Eecord, Palo Alto County, no. 1, p. 86. 

2 See Appendix B for terms of settlement. 

3 The records of the county are full of adjournments from the cheerless 
old court house to the more comfortable cabins of the settlers. — Minutes and 
Supervisors' Eecord, Palo Alto County, i, pp. 136 and 142. 



88 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

White's house except they shall be i/i larger in all dimen- 
sions."^ 

The stage that made regular trips was the principal 
means of communication and transportation. It was the 
main artery that supplied the life blood to the frontier 
settlements. H. H. Jacobs, who drove stage for years 
through the county, says: "I started to stage it in 70 
or '71. I ran seven years out of about nine or ten years. 
Between '71 and '73 ran pretty much all the time. The 
postoffice at the Tobin place was established when we 
came here in 1863. Called Soda Bar. Think it was Tom 
Tobin that was postmaster. Alice Tobin, Tom Kirby's 
wife, was postmaster all the time I ran stage. Most of 
the postoffices were established in '70 or '71 or along 
there, because they were there when I commenced. Joe 
Mulroney run stage on the west side of the river up 
to the beginning of the seventies. Man by the name of 
Fisher run on the east side, Humboldt to Estherville. 
Was running four or five years. Both carried mail. Two 
different routes. In '70 and '71 the horses got sick and 
sometimes I would come horseback with one horse, and at 
last they all got sick and I had a pair of three year old 
steers and I made four trips with them. Came up one 
day and back the next. That was along in the early seven 
ties. Another fellow drove from Humboldt to West Bend 
with a pair of steers. Hickey's postoffice was established 
about the same time. 

"My stage route was across the river from West Bend 
to Fiddlers' Green, where Franklins and all those people 
lived; there was a postoffice there. Then from there to 
Rolfe, then to near Bradgate, then from there to Rutland, 
and from there to Huml)oldt and Dakotah City. I would 
make a trip on the west side of the river, start Monday 
for Emmetsburg and go down to Hickey's, across to West 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, i, p. 146. 




p. F. Van Gorden 



E. P. McEvoY 




Z. F. Dickinson 



S, W. IVVI.LAKI) 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 89 

Bend to cliauge horses. Cross at West Bend bridge. The 
bridge was built some time in the seventies. From there 
down to Rolfe, then the next trip on this side of the river. 
From Emmetsburg to Fern Valley and then West Bend, 
McKnight's Point, Wacousta, Tueland, then Hmnboldt 
and Dakotah City. That would be in the last part of the 
seventies. Say from '75 to about '81 that we would run 
that way. Before that it was just one mail a week. 

''I remember when I was staging. Bill Roper, White, 
and some one else had been to Fort Dodge and a blizzard 
came, and they got storm bound. They stayed at our 
house two days. Chas. Ballard was driving stage for 
me. Think he had made the south trip and I was at 
home. They wanted me to drive team for them, thinking 
I knew the road better. We started from home in the 
morning and got eight miles in the forenoon by working 
hard. Bill would take butter and put in his coffee, saying 
that it was as near cream as he could get. We got into 
Emmetsburg that night, just as it was getting dark. We 
worked hard all day, shoveling to get through. 

"Another time I was driving from Hickey's. Had a 
little French mare on the stage that day. The roads were 
full of water, thawed all day. Just before I got to Hickey's 
there was a cloud came up and it started to snow. While 
they were changing the mail there at Hickey's it was just 
one sheet of snow coming down, big flakes. I started for 
town, had three miles up that bottom and I drove, and if 
it had not been that that mare w^ould just stick to the track, 
I would never have reached Emmetsburg. That was the 
night so many got lost. Lots of farmers started west and 
had to come back. I could not look up. Could watch down 
beside the cutter and see that we were in the track. If I had 
had another mile I know the horses could not have stood 
it. Their eyes were covered with snow when I got in. " ^ 

1 Interview with H. H. Jacobs. 



90 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

In the early seventies the principal trading point was at 
Algona where the railroad ended. J. J. Wilson had a 
freight line from Aigona to Emmetsburg and also one 
from Algona to Dakotah City in Humboldt County and 
another line to Estherville. There were no regular roads 
then and the hauling was done by ox teams which went 
overland, hauling loads of lumber, hardware, goods, and 
supplies of all kinds which were in great demand. James 
A. Keeler, who came to this county in 1871, drove a wagon 
on this freight line. He kept a dairy and it is an interest- 
ing record of the early days. At places where the road 
was especially bad they would double up and put all the 
oxen on one wagon, and often had twelve yoke to one 
wagon to get a load through Cylinder Creek. In June of 
1873, the freighters spent several days helping a circus 
over Cylinder Creek. This was the first show that ever 
came to the county, John Donovan and Thos. Slater were 
among those whe freighted from Algona at this time.^ 

The journalistic spirit early made its appearance in 
Palo Alto County. The first newspaper was the Demo- 
crat, the first issue of which appeared December 4, 1869. 
The editor-owner was James P. White and the paper was 
published at Soda Bar. The prospectus issued by the 
publisher is printed in full in the Appendix to this book. 
This paper flourished some time in spite of the difficulty 
of having the printing done at Estherville, Algona, or oth- 
er place where they could get the work done. The paper 
continued staunchly Democratic and when the Palo Alto 
Advance was published by McCarty & Hartshorn and 
Hal-rison & Burnell, June, 1870, there were many lively 
political contests waged in the columns of the two papers. 
When the copy was prepared the editors of the Advance 
would hitch up and drive to Humboldt or Algona where 
the paper was printed, wait for the printed copies, and 

1 Interview with James A. Keeler. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 91 

bring them back and distribute them throughout the coun- 
ty. The Advance was a Republican paper. 

The Palo Alto Patriot was published at Emmetsburg 
in 1873. And the Monthly Enterprise, a small paper, was 
circulated for a short time during the same year. The 
Palo Alto Pilot was started during the last days of the 
Old Town of Emmetsburg in 1874, and moved with the 
town. The Palo Alto Reporter was started by Henry Jen- 
kins in 1876. Of these early newspaper ventures the 
Reporter alone has survived and is still being published in 
Emmetsburg. The present Democrat, now published in 
Emmetsburg, was a later paper started in 1884 by P. H. 
Ryan. 

The board of supervisors, at their meeting in Janu- 
ary, 1870, for the first time authorized the publication of 
the proceedings of the board and designated the Palo Alto 
Democrat as the first official newspaper. The following- 
year the Palo Alto Democrat and the Palo Alto Advance 
were named as the official newspapers.^ 

In 1870 Pat Connors and J. B. Guerdett brought a 
threshing machine into the county. This was not the first 
one, however, but there had been no machine threshing 
done for several years, and the advent of this threshing 
machine was hailed with delight by the farmers. The 
next spring Pat Connors sold his interest to C. T. Allen, 
who owned the machine until it was worn out. C. H. Gid- 
dings worked on this outfit, driving the horse power for 
five straight years. Mr. Giddings relates some interest- 
ing experiences of the days spent with the threshing gang 
and it is through his kindness that the picture of this outfit 
at work threshing for Martin Coonan in 1871 is given on 
another page, Mr. Giddings having the original picture 
in his possession. 

In the early seventies the county officers had difficulty 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, pp. 175 and 
205. 



92 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

in finding suitable offices. The old court house at Paoli 
was untenantable and so the county officers were scattered 
around at whatever places they could find accommoda- 
tions. The board of supersisors at their January 1, 1872, 
meeting made the following record: "Ordered by the 
board that the back room and the east middle room of 
White & Shea's office be rented by the board for holding 
court, meetings of the board and county officers for six 
months from January 1, 1872, paying therefor the sum of 
fifty dollars cash, and that M. L. Brown, treasurer, has 
permission to hold his office at the office of McCarty & 
Hartshorn in Emmetsburg, and Wm. H. H. Booth, auditor, 
has permission to hold his office at the office of T. W. 
Harrison in Emmetsburg. M. D. Daniels, sheriff, has 
jDermission to hold his office at the office of T. W. Harrison 
in Emmetsburg. That no office rent shall be paid by the 
county for the last named officers." ^ 

During this period there were several interesting politi- 
cal campaigns. The Democrats were in the majority in 
the county and had complete control of the offices. In the 
election of 1870 only the clerk and recorder were to be 
elected and the Republicans then for the first time per- 
fected their organization and put a ticket in the field. 
The Republican candidates made such surprising gains 
that with more confidence in 1871 the Republicans again 
put up a full ticket and entered upon a vigorous campaign. 
Geo. B. McCarty describes the issues and the contest as 
follows: "In 1870 all county officers were Democrats 
except one or two members of the board of supervisors. 
The board was at that time composed of a member from 
each township. In the fall of 1870 the Republicans had 
formed an organization and put a printed ticket in the 
field, appointed a central committee, etc., but did not elect 
any officers. The county had been run very loosely finan- 

1 Minutes and Sui)ervisors' Eecord, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 234. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1 863-1 872 93 

cially and otherwise, the county warrants were selling at 
$.25 on the dollar in 1859 and no buyers. During the 
spring of 1870 John A. Elliott, land commissioner for the 
Des Moines Valley Railroad Company, which company 
had a large grant of land in this county which had become 
taxable, authorized the writer to buy up from $3,000 to 
$5,000 in county warrants to be used by the company in 
paying the county part of its taxes. I bought nearly $3,000 
worth of these warrants at $.25 on the dollar, then another 
party through Jas. P. White commenced buying up war- 
rants and the price advanced to $.30, and finally to $.33 1-3, 
and a few to $.35, when I, having bought up the required 
amount, stopped buying and there was no further market 
for them. Prior to my buying, warrants had been issued 
by the board at $.25 on the dollar ; that is the county would 
buy a bill of stationery amounting to $25. They would 
then issue county warrants to the amount of $100 to pay 
for it. In the spring of 1870 while I was still buying war- 
rants, I went before the board and explained that it was 
ruinous to issue so many warrants. They said they could 
do nothing else as they received no money, the county 
treasurer always turning in warrants for all county taxes. 
But they finally agreed to issue no warrants for less than 
$.35 on the dollar, but this did not help the matter material- 
ly, as there was a large amount of railroad and other lands 
unpatented and not taxable, so that the county was each 
year issuing warrants far in excess of revenue. In 1871 
there was a county treasurer, auditor, and other officers 
to elect, and the Republicans, then fully organized, held a 
convention and nominated a full ticket at an early date, 
and the contest at once became spirited. The Advance, a 
Republican paper, was started by E. J. Hartshorn, H. L. 
Burnell and myself. It was a patent inside and the local 
pages were printed first at Humboldt and later at Algona 
in the Upper Des Moines office. We would write up our 



94 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

local and editorial matter, ads., etc., hitch a team and 
carry it over and have it set up and the papers run off, 
bring them back and mail to every one in the county. In 
the meantime James P. Wliite and W. H. Shea started the 
Democrat, which was printed at Fort Dodge. The cam- 
paign became very warm. M. L. Brown was the Republi- 
can candidate for county treasurer and James P. White 
the Democratic, and the battle waged hottest in this office, 
but the others were not neglected. The last five weeks a 
house to house canvass was made by both sides and not 
only the candidates but several others participated — on the 
Republican side, E. J. Hartshorn, T. W. Harrison, H. L. 
Burnell, J. L. Martin, and myself. While the contest was 
very spirited, very little or no personal abuse was indulged 
in and the workers and candidates on the different sides 
often would meet and recite incidents of the campaign in 
the most friendly manner. The whole Republican ticket 
was elected and, as promised during the campaign, they 
entered upon a policy of retrenchment of the finances of 
the county. First, they carried a proposition for a mill 
cash county tax and paid only cash for supplies bought; 
caused every bill to be paid at 100 cents on the dollar ; re- 
fused to permit the county treasurer to turn in county war- 
rants in lieu of cash collected on county tax from non- 
residents and others paying in cash, but only accepted 
county warrants when brought to the office by the tax- 
payer, for the county part of his taxes, and not for the 
special county tax. This brought the credit of the county 
up and warrants were worth their face. The old warrants 
outstanding were bonded and the finances of the county 
placed on a firm financial basis. While Clay, O'Brien, 
Lyon, and other counties in Northwest Iowa repudiated 
their indebtedness, Palo Alto County paid hers dollar for 
dollar, notwithstanding the fact that most of them had 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 95 

been issued at $.25 and quite a large amount of them had 
been issued to hire substitutes during the war." ^ 

From that time on the county was close on county elec- 
tions for many years. Sometimes the Democrats and 
sometimes the Republicans would prevail and often party 
success would be divided. These campaigns were gener- 
ally animated and usually fought along the lines of na- 
tional issues or individual qualifications. Space forbids 
any further consideration of this interesting subject. A 
complete list of all county officers elected in the county 
will be found in the Appendix. 

The tide of homesteaders that flowed into the county 
continued steadily on the increase. During the years 
1869-70-71-72 not only the homesteaders, but also the home- 
seekers who bought their land, came in great numbers to 
find locations on Palo Alto County farms. These new- 
comers, mostly with large families, seemed to settle in 
clusters, forming a sort of community with opportunities 
for social intercourse and neighborhood friendships. The 
day of the isolated settler had passed and the community 
period was taking its place. For convenience as well as 
for historical accuracy the remaning part of this decade 
(from 1868 to 1872 inclusive) will be described by town- 
ships. 

West Bend township was fairly well settled and most 
of the new settlers chose locations in the newer and less 
settled parts of the county. W. G. Henry was one who 
came to West Bend township in April, 1870, together with 
his brothers. His brothers, however, returned after the 
first season and did not come back until 1890. W. G. 
stayed on his land in section 20 until 1875, when he moved 
to Emmetsburg, where he still resides. Among the other 
early settlers in West Bend township in 1868 were E. P. 
Vance, John F. Little, and Frank Little; in 1869, Geo. 

1 " Kecolleetions of Early Palo Alto County," Geo. 3. McCarty. 



96 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Brown, J. E. Stone, and J. C. Fehlliauer ; in 1870 W. H. 
H. Booth and Sam Post; in 1871 Julius Thatcher, Sol 
Huntley, F, Dudgeon, and S. W. Ballard. 

The first settlers in Ellington township were Ezekiel 
Randall, his wife, six boj^s and one girl. They settled on 
section 14, May 14, 1868. That fall James Clemens and 
John Acker and their families moved in. In the follow- 
ing years, Hud Acker, the Moffit family, Jacob Harriman, 
M. Wening, John Truog, Sr., Adam Rund, John Krieg, 
Frank Bursell, Nicholas Steil, Anton Seasnbamner, Mike 
Schneider, J. Bart, G. Swessinger, John Rupert, Adam 
Kress, August Kunz, John Moffit, Wm. Buchacher, E. 
Goodlaxon, F. Comer, Henry Munch, John Rogers, H. 
C. Booth, and John Leuer, became residents of the town- 
ship. In the spring of 1870 Peter Grethen and wife 
came in company with John Wagner and his wife and two 
children. As they drove by, a school house was being 
built for the towsnhip. From that time on a great many 
settlers located on the fertile plains of Ellington township. 

Rush Lake township was a mecca for newcomers in 
1869. A. Griley, D. G. Grier, A. J. Scofield, H. C. Obert, 
X. S. Loomis, Philo Sanf ord, Ed and H. Sanders, M. Reed, 
W. H. Cammick, Mike Schuler, Geo. Pries, Linn Lough- 
ridge, E. Peterson, Peter Hartley, M. W. Barker, Isaac 
Perry, and others came that year. The next spring B. 
Vanderrj^t, R. T. Barnard, S. W. Tressler, and A. V. 
Lacy joined them. In 1871 J. P. Stebbins, D. C. Gross, 
A. Elson, Geo. M. White, Joseph Fish, and 0. 0. Williams 
came. Fred Cross and D. M. Wilcox located in the town- 
ship the next year, and from that time on the settlers 
came in great numbers. 

The first settlers in Silver Lake township were C. A. 
Hoffman, 0. A. Sterner, John Mills, and Joseph Marsh, 
who moved into the county in the spring of 1869. Patrick 
Sherlock selected a location in the fall of 1869, and in the 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 97 

following April his father, Jas. Sherlock, his mother, and 
three boys, Dan, John and Joe, joined him and together 
took a homestead on section 12. That year quite a num- 
ber of prairie schooners moved into the township. E. D. 
Treat, Hiram Kittlewell, Seymour Morrison, T. D. Collins, 
John and Dan Collins, J. R. Phoenix, John Hill, Chas. 
Willis, Wm. Wiley, L. B. Colburn, Ovid Hare, Myron 
Hare, Peter Olesen, Ole Williamson, G. M. Hamilton, G. 
L. Dickerman, J. C. Richards, C. L. Harrington, S. Har- 
rington, G. V. Whitman, J. W. Shepard, and Michael 
Whelan. The next year John Boddy, Robt. C. Owens, 
and H. A. Webster located there ; and the next year H. I. 
Snow, Rufus A. Hartungs, John Sawyer, and T. VV. Le- 
hane, and a large number of others joined the Silver Lake 
settlement. A postoffice called ^' Sherlock P. 0." was 
established at Mr. Sherlock's house in 1874 and remained 
there until Ayrshire was founded in 1882.^ 

In addition to the settlers already mentioned in Fern 
Valley there were many homesteaders in Fern Valley and 
Fairfield townships during this period. Dr. A. C. Young 
and Mrs. Young and son Jerry (J. C), came to Palo Alto 
County in 1869 and settled on the northwest quarter of 
section 6-95-31, the father taking the north half and the 
son the south half. The father died in '73 and the mother 
and Jerry sold out in '76, the latter moving to Emmets- 
burg, the mother returning to Michigan where she still 
lives.- Some of the other settlers in these two townships 
during the early seventies were the following: J. M. 
Thompson, Rufus Miller, Kelly Bros., Geo. Pugsley, J. R. 
Frame, J. P. Davidson, Wesley Davidson, John Schneider, 
Thos. Cullen, Thos. Richardson, Andrew Satter, Wm. 
Richardson, Ralph Richardson, John and Steve Hoskins, 

1 Since the above was written, a continued article, "Some Early History 
of Silver Lake Township," by an undisclosed author, has appeared in the 
Ayrshire Chronicle, June 9 and 16, 1910. 

2 Statement of J. C. Young. 



98 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

T. J. Gates, F. E. Walker, W. H. Melon, Simpson La Bar, 
Fred Falb, Wm. R. Acres, John E. Martin, and Wm. T. 
Drennen. 

With the great tide of settlers that came into the county 
in 1869, the best lands were early picked out. A few of 
the best locations in Independence and Fairfield townships 
were thus selected. Some of the settlers of that year may 
be mentioned. C. 0. Erstad, A. C. Erstad, L. Seely, James 
B. Elliott, John Jenswold, Fred Wagener, and Henry 
Hullen. During the next two years a large number found 
homes there. John Higley, Jacob Mathieson, Julius 
Mathieson, Peter 0. Peterson, Paul T. Hougstein, S. A. 
Rustabakke, C. P. Yeager, Freeman Woodin, A. P. and 
Douglas Beck, Geo. L. Clarke, P. C. Forrest, Hans Han- 
sen, Adam Domek, Mat Gappa, Geo. Kleigle, and many 
others. 

Aside from the very early settlers who had selected 
good river locations, there were not many people in Ne- 
vada township. John McGormick, E. J. King, A. L. 
Sprout, L. N. Sprout, C. N. Sprout, settled there in the 
early '70s and made their permanent home on the broad 
prairies. 

In Emmetsburg township David and J. H. Millea were 
with the hardy pioneers of 1868 and settlement was slow 
there until 1870 when J. J. Kane and 1871 when Myles 
McNally and their families were the forerunners of the 
extensive settlement of later years. 

In Great Oak township, in addition to those already 
mentioned, several families came in 1868 — Terrence, Robt. 
and John Walsh, Thomas Egan; and a large number 
in the next few years, John Wooley, Sam Dyer, James 
Brennan, Thomas Martin, John S. Martin, John Groff, 
Milo Gardner, Edward Kelley, Philip Wessar, Theo. Wes- 
sar, G. Wessar, B. Quigley, Peter Quigley, Thos. Conlon, 
Martin McCarty, Geo. H. Beach, and John Jennings. In 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 99 

October, 1872, Peter Jones, James Keenan, and John 
Hand with their families, moved in. Peter Jones, in 
describing the condition of the country at that time, said : 
''There was high water from within a mile of my house, 
up to Cullen's corner, when I came here and from the foot 
of Burns 's hill up to Coonan's corner before the town was 
moved up here and even after it was moved. The wagon 
boxes would be down in the water and the water up to the 
horses ' sides. One year a man stayed there as guide. He 
was one of old man Owen's sons. Wlien we would come 
into the water at Cullen's with the team, he would take 
care of the team until he put us on the bridge. He was 
a sort of pilot. That was before they got the grade in. " ^ 

In 1869 Hiram Millerke built a house on a claim in 
Freedom township. It was then the only house east of 
the lake except Michael Jackman's on the east shore. 
Later John Donovan settled on section 26 and became 
a prominent figure in the life of the township and of the 
town of Emmetsburg. In 1870 John and Pat Galleger 
settled on section 28 and later John Lane, Terence Cullen, 
Orin and Wm. Ryder, Patrick C. Nolan, John Nolan, Wm. 
Harrison, Albert Harrison, Amos Letson, Tom Prouty, 
Chester Prouty, and others came to that neighborhood. T. 
W. Harrison bought a farm in section 28-96-32, and J. N. 
Prouty homesteaded an eighty near by, but as his wife ob- 
jected to living in a sod house, he sold out and moved back 
to Humboldt. 

In the fall of 1869 several homesteaders met at Fort 
Dodge while selecting land, became acquainted and to- 
gether came out to Palo Alto County and settled in the 
northwest part of the county. These were L. C. Christen- 
sen, James Olsen, L. P. Duhn, John Nelson, J. J. Skow, 
P. C. Adamson, and Lars Olsen. The next year they were 
joined by J. S. Duhn, Thos. Peterson, Nels Jensen, Peter 

1 Intervnew with Peter Jones. 



100 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Anderson. Later Lars Thoreson and Simon Thoreson 
came. This was the beginning of the Scandinavian settle- 
ment in the north part of the county and from this sturdy- 
stock has come some of our very best citizens, and this 
community has been a power for good in the affairs of the 
county. 

C. S. Duncan, in the spring of 1871, drove through from 
Wisconsin to Palo Alto County and located a homestead 
on the land which is now a part of the north side of Graet- 
tinger. After building a shack he sent for his wife and 
children. They struck Iowa at a very inopportune time, 
as the grasshoppers took their crop year after year and 
even the hardest kind of work failed to accomplish much 
against such a serious handicap. Mr. Duncan, telling of 
his experiences soon after they arrived in Palo Alto Coun- 
ty, sajs : ' * I had saved up ten dollars and I hitched up 
and drove to Fort Dodge, bought potatoes at $.45 a bushel 
and brought them to Emmetsburg near the river, and ped- 
dled them off at $1 about as fast as I could pour them out 
of a sack. I made three trips. "^ By teaching, as both 
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan were excellent teachers, they man- 
aged to get ahead and after having lived on their home- 
stead a year (Mr. Duncan having served in the army four 
years, and Mrs. Duncan also having had experience as an 
army nurse), they proved up, raised $500 on the place and 
built a very comfortable house. In 1876 he sold his place 
in Walnut township and bought a place in Ellington town- 
ship, in the south part of the county, where he lived until 
he moved to the city of Emmetsburg.^ 

Lost Island township at first contained all that is now 
Highland and Lost Island, as they were not divided until 
1878. John A. Anthony, who settled on the north side of 
Lost Island Lake, was the first settler in this township. 
He used to keep a postoffice called Lost Island and it was 

1 Lf-Uer of C. S. Duncan. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 101 

headquarters for the stage line from Algona to Spencer. 
James Freeman, brother-in-law of Anthony, located on 
the eastern side of Lost Island Lake; Cruikshank and 
Amos J. Miller settled there soon after. In 1870 Mc- 
Laughlin came, and in the fall of 1871 the Barringer boys, 
Emmet, Clayburn and Lyman, located in the township. 
Dwight Goff also came that year. The Ruthvens home- 
steaded there in 1870, but went back east and worked on 
the railroad all summer, coming back to the homestead 
in the fall and resided here permanently from that on.^ 

In Lost Island township in addition to those already 
named, James Spaulding and John Cruikshank came in 
1869. 

Others coming to Lost Island in 1870-71 are as follows : 
Torry Knutson, P. H. Funkley, Warren Goff, Halver 
Rierson, W. I. Perry, J. B. Fellows, Anfin Rierson, Severt 
Johnson, A. Simonson, G. Gunderson, Torkel Larson, and 
many others too numerous to mention in the brief space 
at our command. 

In Highland township in addition to those already re- 
ferred to the following became residents in 1870 : J. T. 
Soners, Chas. Harris, John Brennan, Thos. Lee, Martin 
Doyle, P. Radigan, P. McAlhany, D. Foly, Michael Flem- 
ing, John Fleming, James Lynch. In the following year 
many more came: Alex Ruthven, John Ruthven, Robt. 
Ruthven, Joseph Damon, James Currans, J. M. Carpenter, 
James McBride, Lars Bargstrom, Silas Ryder, F. 0. 
Howe. In 1872 Peter Hanson and John W. Hovey cast 
their lot with the people of this township, and the settlers 
began to come in great numbers.^ 

"Walnut township has already been referred to, but be- 
sides the earlier settlers already mentioned, D. M. Leek 
and the Conway family settled in Walnut township in 
1870, and in the following year E. P. McEvoy, a well- 
known settler, located near the present town site of Os- 

1 Interviews with Amos Miller, E. P. Barringer, Alex Ruthven, and others. 



102 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

good. L. M. Cooley, a retired Baptist minister, also came 
there to live. Thomas Moran, James and Thomas O'Con- 
nor, made their home in that township that year. P. F. 
Van Gorden and family in the same year settled on a farm 
near the present site of Graettinger. 

Vernon township with its fertile lands did not long 
evade the homeseekers. In 1869 Da\dd G. Baker came 
from Wisconsin and in the early spring settled in Vernon 
township. He has kept a careful diary throughout his 
life and the little book that records the daily events of the 
trip to Palo Alto County and their first experiences there 
is an interesting and valuable historical record. J. C. 
Baker was another prominent settler of that township. 
Other settlers there in 1869 were Chas. C. Gibbs, H. R. 
Boardman, S. Hammond, and Rev. B. C. Hammond, H. F. 
Giddings, U. Butler, H. T. Allen. In the following year 
B. Bradley, C. T. Allen, and L. C. Barnum settled there, 
and from that time on the settlers came in ever increas- 
ing numbers. 

Thos. Slater tells his story as follows: *'In the year 
of 1871, the last of March, we moved from Wisconsin to 
Vernon township and took up a homestead on section 30, 
five miles north of the present town. After having gone 
to Algona to purchase lumber to build a house, I began 
its erection about the seventh of April. It was not a man- 
sion, however, the boards were set up end ways, the roof 
was shingle and the one-story home was soon ready for its 
occupants. On the ninth of April my family and I began 
life anew in this humble hut, on a treeless prairie. The 
following morning we were welcomed to our new dwelling 
place by a blinding blizzard that lasted three days. We 
awoke on the first day of the sweeping storm to find the 
floor and bed covered with six inches of snow that had 
made its way through the open cracks between the boards. 
We had on hand only a half bunch of shingles for fire- 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 103 

wood, so I was obliged to walk a quarter of a mile to Rev. 
B. C. Hammond's to get wood to build a fire. At first I 
lost my way in the raging blast, but finally succeeded in 
reaching Rev. Hammond's house. Loading myself with 
all the cordwood I could carry on my back, I started for 
home. I arrived home about nine o'clock after having 
been gone an hour. I immediately set about cleaning 
snow off the floor and made ready to build a fire so that 
the rest of the family could get up and not perish from 
cold. At the time of the storm the grain was nearly all 
sowed and up, and as the snow melted away nature showed 
forth its beautiful garments. The fields were turning 
green and bright blades of grass shone in the sunshine. 
In 1871 1 was able to secure work of John Robbins at $1.50 
per day, walking five miles morning and evening to and 
from the Old Town. In 1872 I worked for McKinley, 
who ran an implement shop or hardware store. For 
two years I teamed it to Algona for Mr. McKinley. 
In the winter of 1873 another severe storm swept the 
prairie, a blizzard lasting the length of three days. Dur- 
ing the afternoon of the first day about four o'clock I 
started to the barn, hoping that I would be able to reach 
it in safety as my stock was badly in need of attention. 
Having gone as I thought in the direction of the barn and 
far enough as I supposed to have reached it, the thought 
suddenly filled my mind that I had lost my way and I began 
plodding back in the tracks I had already made in the 
snow to find myself running against the barn which I had 
previously been within one foot of without knowing it. 
I set about feeding the stock, but immediately the question 
arose, how will I find my way back to the house ? I called 
and my wife came at once to the door and responded. So 
I asked her to keep up a yell until I reached the house. I 
resolved, however, to not attempt another trip to the barn 
until the storm had abated. After the storm the snow 



104 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

being very deep, I could not reach the river, the accus- 
tomed place for procuring my wood. Passing Pat Nolan's 
on the way to the Old Town, I spied a half cord of rotten 
wood near the house. I asked Pat what he would take 
for it. His reply was three dollars. I told him that I 
thought that pretty steep, but he assured me that it was 
very cheap at that price. I purchased the wood, however, 
and on returning home from town loaded it on my sled. 
Later on I found a job with Nolan hauling hay. I helped 
him six days and was allowed three dollars for my work, 
which exactly paid for my half cord of wood. And by 
this time the wood was burned. For three successive 
years the grasshoppers took the crops. After having sold 
the cows and calves to get seed again, I lost all. After 
the grasshoppers had taken their flight, naught remained 
but a wife, two children, and a joke of cattle. And so 
with my small start I made my way for the Old Town to 
begin life anew after many hardships. And here I have 
remained until the present day."^ 

Mrs. Slater writes as follows : "I too shared the hard- 
ships of my husband in those early days when there was a 
constant struggle with poverty. It was not an easy thing 
for me to see my husband, thinly clad, wend his way across 
the bleak prairie in search of work. How often, lonely 
and afraid, I sat by the roadside with my two children 
awaiting his return, when the weather was such that we 
could wander out-doors. Sometimes we sat for hours un- 
til far across the fields I heard a whistle that made my 
heart glad, for then I knew that he was returning to his 
little flock at home. I wanted to do something to help him 
in his struggle to earn a living, but I could think of only a 
few ways that a woman with a family could earn a dollar. 
I asked him to inquire of Mrs. McKinley, for whose hus- 
band he was working at the time, if there was any work 

1 Letter of Thomas Slater. 



A DECADE OF GROWTH — 1863-1872 105 

she could give me to do. She sent me a sack of carpet rags 
which I sewed and was given a dollar in return. This 
dollar was not spent for luxuries I assure you, but it was 
carefully invested in some of the common necessities of 
life. After the grasshoppers had destroyed our crops 
and we had taken up our residence in the Old Town, I 
continued to earn a dollar at every opportunity. I was 
ambitious and desired to work and save that in later years 
we might have a comfortable living. I was also anxious 
for my children's welfare. I was willing to toil if they, 
through my help, might be able to acquire an education. 
But I realized that we were poor, very poor, and that only 
through hard work would we be able to rear our family 
and keep back the wolf from the door."^ 

*' Perhaps it will be interesting to know something of 
the prices in those times. In 1871 we paid five dollars 
and fifty cents a hundred for flour and then could only get 
a few pounds apiece. This being brought by a mail car- 
rier, from Estherville. We paid one dollar per bushel for 
corn, seventy-five cents per bushel for oats and a dollar 
and a half a bushel for potatoes. In that year I paid one 
dollar and half per bushel for potatoes and after they were 
raised I could only get ten cents a bushel if I were able to 
sell them. But no one wanted them even at that. We 
had a larger crop of potatoes that year than we have ever 
had since. There was also a large crop of other kinds of 
grain. ' ' - 

The prairies were covered with a luxuriant growth of 
grass in the early days. The surface water collected in 
ponds and these tended to produce large and rank growths 
of grass and vegetation. The grass in turn prevented 
rapid evaporation, so that the prevalence of tall grass 
and numerous sloughs was one of the characteristic feat- 

1 Letter of Mrs. Thomas Slater. 

2 Statement of Thos. Slater. 



106 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Tires of those periods. These numerous ponds were pro- 
lific breeding places for mosquitoes. All the old settlers 
have vivid remembrances of these pests, and they describe 
the monstrous size, strenuous singing power, and keen 
penetration with feelings intensified by years of experi- 
ence on the frontier plains. 

The pleasures of these people were very simple, and 
their gala days were few and far apart. The youths of 
those days, now at a ripe old age, recall with smiles the 
frolics that lightened the long days of heavy toil and pri- 
vation. 

The women of these families were among the bravest 
and most self-sacrificing in time of need or danger. It is 
no easy lot to be cast upon the broad prairie of a new 
country surrounded by the broad expanses of land and 
sky, with scarcely an object to break the monotony of the 
prospect. Often the nearest neighbor was miles away, 
and only at long intervals came the news from the east 
that was so eagerly awaited. Provisions and fuel were 
sometimes scarce and the good wives often had to work 
and save to eke out the scanty living in times of scarcity. 
Content with little of the material things of life, but pos- 
sessed of boundless hope and courage, the good women of 
the pioneer days shared the dangers and hardships of the 
frontier and thus contributed to the making of history on 
the western prairies. 

This decade from 1863 to 1872 was indeed a period of 
growth for Palo Alto County. In population, organiza- 
tion and material prosperity, the advance had been sub- 
stantial. The reverses and hard times of the year 1873 
brought this growth to an abrupt stop. During the next 
few years eveiything was at a standstill, and this interval 
was the time of quiet that preceded the next period of 
development so soon to follow. 




The "Old Town" of Emmetsburg 




Threshing for Martin Coonan in 1871 



CHAPTER XI 

The Old Town 

The first attempts at building a county-seat were fail- 
ures because they were purely speculative. Thej^ were 
premature and lacked natural advantages that would com- 
pel rapid advancement. The first town in the county was 
a natural growth. It was unplanned and unheralded, 
located by force of circumstances, and grew from a natural 
and spontaneous necessity. 

Martin Coonan had built a log cabin in 1858 on the east 
bank of the Des Moines River on section 23-96-33. This 
hospitable little home was the stopping place for weary 
travelers for several years. About 1865, Mr. Coonan 
hauled brick that was left over when the court house at 
Paoli was rebuilt and built a new brick house about 16 x 24, 
two stories high. He used his old cabin as an addition or 
lean-to. This pretentious dwelling at once became the 
''tavern" of the county and many a wayfarer found shel- 
ter and good cheer within its walls. A traveler coming 
to Palo Alto County for the first time in 1869, thus de- 
scribes his impressions : ' ' The next day we plodded west- 
ward and crossed into Palo Alto County and later in the 
day first beheld Medium Lake at a point north of the 
Michael Jackman home. When we passed the house the 
children came out and stood in a row (like an old fashioned 
spelling class) the largest at the head and ranging down 
to one just able to stand alone. We came along the east 
shore and around the foot of the lake (where Call's Addi- 
tion is now platted) and thence northwesterly. When 
near where the Scott Ormsbv home now stands we came 



108 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

across three small children herding some cows. We asked 
them, 'Where is Emmetsburg?' One of them, a girl, re- 
plied, 'You are there now, sir.' 'Yes, but where is the 
town?' 'Eight here is where it is.' 'But we don't see 
any town.' 'Sure, and don't you see that stake there in 
the grass, and that one there - that's Enunetsburg. ' ' But 
where is the hotel?' 'Oh, it's Coonan's you want. It's 
over there beyond the hill.' So on over the hill and just 
as the sun was setting we arrived at Coonan's." ^ 

The name still clung to the stakes of the abandoned town 
that Hoolihan and his friends had so confidently laid out. 
But Coonan's "Hotel" was the magnet that drew all com- 
ers. Mr. Coonan had made quite a road in hauling the 
brick to his house and with an eye for business, put up a 
sign some distance out, ' ' Emmetsburg, ' ' with a hand point- 
ing toward his home. This deflected travel from the 
staked-out town of Emmetsburg on the shore of Medium 
Lake, and from the deserted town of Paoli. Mr. Coonan 
also secured the jDostoffice and that added to the prestige. 
The Coonan place thus became the objective point for all 
travelers and settlers. 

In the fall of 1868 Thomas C. Davis came to the county, 
bringing with him an old saw-mill outfit. He formed a 
partnership with E. G. Pond and together they built a 
brush dam across the Des Moines River a short distance 
from Coonan's and set up the saw-mill. They began to 
saw some lumber for the settlers and this new industiy 
was the final step in the locating of the real town, which 
soon began to straggle along the road leading to the Coo- 
nan house. 

The next spring "N. D. Bearss built a small shed 10 x 12, 
about 6 feet high on one side and 7 feet on the other. This 
was built by setting some old slabs and poles in the ground 
and tacking tarred paper on and then banking up on the 

1 ' ' EecoUections of Early Palo Alto County, ' ' Geo. B. McCarty. 




( \e(). B. M( Cartn 



THE OLD TOWN 109 

outside with hay. The roof was made with poles and hay. 
In this 'store' he had abont a wheelbarrow full of goods, 
some pipes and smoking tobacco, etc. He was alone and 
lived in this shed, boarding himself."^ 

The same summer ''M. D. Daniels built a one-story 
building about 12x14, which I think was made entirely 
out of native lumber. Daniels and his wife and two child- 
ren lived in this. He was a blacksmith and had a shop 
about 10x12 made by standing poles on end and with 
slabs nailed on them. The roof, what there was of it, 
was of slabs. "^ 

That fall George B. McCarty came out to Palo Alto 
County to cast his fortunes with the new town. He thus 
described the journey and his experiences in getting set- 
tled : ^ ' * I had then decided to locate at Emmetsburg, and 
in October, 1869, having remained until after election to 
vote and work for my townsman, Samuel Merrill, for gov- 
ernor of Iowa, two days later Al Jones and myself with 
my few belongings started for Emmetsburg. We went 
from McGregor via boat to Dubuque and from Dubuque to 
Fort Dodge via railroad. At Fort Dodge we hired teams, 
Al Jones having purchased a stock of goods with which to 
start a store at Emmetsburg, when we should get there. 
We had three teams loaded with lumber and goods ; were 
three days getting through. Had to unload three or four 
times and carry the lumber and goods out when the teams 
would get stuck in sloughs, which was not only hard work, 
but wet and muddy as well. We ari'ived at Emmetsburg 
October 20, 1869, after dark. We put up and covered up 

1 Statement of Geo. B. MeCarty. Chas. Nolan, J. J. Mahan, and other 
settlers' descriptions agree with the one here given. 

2 Statement of Greo. B. McCarty. 

3 He had previously taken an extended trip through western Iowa with 
Ben Johnson in 1869, and spent four or five days in Emmetsburg, examin- 
ing the surrounding country. Al Jones was then stopping at Coonan 's. 
Statement of Geo. B. McCarty. 



110 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

our goods. The next morning we unloaded the goods and 
our personal effects on the ground and put some of the 
lumber over them. Commenced to look for a carpenter 
and found there were only two in the county — Thos. C. 
Davis, who was building a small house for Rev. B. C. 
Hammond on his homestead, the east half of the southwest 
quarter 30-97-32 ; and W. H. Caner, who was somewhere 
in the southeast part of the count}' putting up a shanty. 
Jones had a saw and hatchet ; I had a hammer and jack- 
knife ; and being thus supplied with tools, we commenced 
a building 16x20 from the lumber we had brought. As 
we expected to get some native lumber at the saw-mill, we 
had only brought a small amount of dimension lumber 
and finding no native lumber, we used the lumber we had 
for temporary sills and plates and a few rafters. Joists 
were not needed, because we had no flooring material and 
mother earth made a good solid floor, as we had found a 
high spot where it was reasonably solid. By night we had 
the frame work well up and not having any shingles and a 
small amount of boards, we had to use them sparingly, but 
had quite a large roll of building paper which in that case 
covered a multitude of omissions and quite a pile of goods. 
That night we had our goods piled up in one corner, yet in 
the boxes, in fair shape. And the heavens smiled upon us 
and no rain fell. The second day with what lumber we 
had and our building paper we had the building well en- 
closed and roofed in. 

* ' On the third day it rained. The fourth day I started 
to Fort Dodge with Jo Smith, Culver, and Clark, three 
homesteaders, who had recently located in the county but 
had horse teams, for more lumber and materials. It was 
damji and rainy in the morning, but about eight o'clock, 
when we were about five miles on our way the wind sud- 
denly turned to the northwest and blew a gale. In less 
than an hour the mud began to freeze on our wagon wheels 



THE OLD TOWN 111 

and ice form on the water standing in the grass and 
sloughs, and I believe I never saw so cold a day. We 
walked nearly all the time and then nearly froze. We 
reached Humboldt about nine o'clock that night, and so 
cold it was that ice formed on the shallow sloughs that 
would almost bear our horses. They would climb on the 
ice and it would break in, while the mud would freeze on 
our wagon till we would have to chop it off with hatchets 
so that the team could haul the wagons. Next morning 
we started and reached Fort Dodge at noon, the ice in the 
sloughs bearing the horses and wagon. Loaded up and 
next day started on our return trip. The weather was 
some warmer, but the ice would break and cut through 
and our wagons would become stalled. For three days 
we worked, unloaded and carried out our loads and 
re-loaded often in water and ice far above our knees, 
and always wet and cold. We finally reached Emmets- 
burg on the night of the fifth day and then set to shingling 
the building. Took the tarred paper off the sides and put 
in studs and joists and finished up the building. This 
time we brought one door and two windows and 12-inch 
wide boards to lay across the joists for floor. We also 
brought some flour, 1 barrel of pork, 1 barrel of molasses 
and 1 barrel of salt. I remember this fact well from the 
fact that when we would get stalled those barrels would 
have to be rolled off and rolled out through the mud and 
water to dry land and then reloaded, which, when I now 
well remember that the mud and water were often more 
than knee deep — well, we had one man in our crowd who 
was inclined to swear, and it took a great amount of effort 
on the part of the other three of us to convince him that 
no amount of swearing could better a job like that. 

'* Coonan's farm house was of brick 16x24, with a 
small wood addition. The brick part was 12 feet high, 
giving an attic chamber, one room, and what Mrs. Coonan 



112 HISTOKY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

called tlie ' landing, ' a small space at the head of the stairs 
partitioned off by itself. The balance of this attic chamber 
in one room was commonly known as the ' school section. ' 
This contained four beds, one in each corner, and the bal- 
ance of the floor space was occupied by the 10 to 30 other 
male guests and members of the family and when all the 
floor space, including that under the beds, was fully taken, 
later guests had to ' sit it out ' down stairs.^ The lower 
story was divided into a kitchen (very small), a small bed 
room and a living room, but usually the cooking was done 
in the living room. The small bed room was occupied by 
Mr. and Mrs, Coonan, but when women were there Mrs. 
Coonan sent Martin to the ' section ' and the women oc- 
cupied the bed room. 

'*I boarded at Coonan 's for nearly two months and 
then Al Jones and I went and slept in the old saw-mill. 
We could look out and see the stars and during that Jan- 
uary and February and March it was cold and we had 
three or four big snows and blizzards. I remember one 
February morning when Jones and I awoke the snow had 
blown in and formed a drift completely covering our bed 
with more than two feet of snow. We used to take such 
of our clothes as we took off and our shoes in bed with us. 
We had a bedstead made of willow poles which was about 
11/2 feet high, and we nailed a piece of slab on the head and 
foot and had a big army blanket which we would stretch 
over these slabs from head to foot and it protected us 
against the snow, unless it was a regular blizzard, when 
it would fill up over the bed so that in the morning we 
could only with difficulty extricate ourselves. But if cold, 
the air was of a better quality than in the school section 
and we could get it first hand. This mill building was 
owned by Thos. C. Davis and E. G. Pond. Davis had par- 

1 This was, as T. W. Harrison says, ' ' A silent inducement to retire 
early." Statement of T. W. Harrison. 



THE OLD TOWN 113 

titioned off a room in one end of the mill building about 12 
or 14 feet square. This partition was made by setting 
poles upright and then nailing other poles and a few pieces 
of slabs to the upright and then setting another row of 
poles and filling in between with hay. Davis and his wife 
and two small children lived in that room and Pond, who 
was a single man, boarded with Davis. Sometimes when 
it was too stormy, Al Jones and I would camp in the store 
building, but it was so small that we could not have a bed 
there but would roll up in blankets on the floor. 

'* Aside from the Coonan house and the old mill build- 
ing already described, there were three other buildings: 
Bearss, Daniels, and the building built by Jones and my- 
self. During the fall and winter of 1869 and 1870 the reg- 
ular inhabitants of Emmetsburg were : 

"Martin Coonan and wife and five boys, Mart, Will, 
Dan, Tom and John. 

"T. C. Davis and wife and two children. 

"E. G. Pond. 

"N. D. Bearss. 

"M. D. Daniels and wife and two children. 

"Al Jones. 

"W. H. Shea. 

"Geo. B. McCarty. 

"James P. White was county treasurer and lived on sec- 
tion 18-95-32, Nevada township. He would come up to 
town nearly every day and when the weather was too bad 
to make the drive he would stay over night. In addition to 
these there were a number of other parties who stayed a 
few weeks : M. E. Griffin, now a banker at Spencer ; G. R. 
Badgrow, now postmaster at Sioux City; Wm. Starr of 
Monticello, Iowa, and others. While there was scarcely a 
day or night that there were not travelers at Coonan 's, I 
remember one night while I roomed at Coonan 's, there 
were 48 persons there, and all had accommodations, such 



114 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

as they were. Shelter at least on a stormy January night 
meant a good deal. ' ' ^ 

Mother Coonan was noted for her hospitality. " Bless 
her dear, big, Irish heart," writes T. W. Harrison, who 
stopped there in those days. '' She always had a smile 
and a kind word and a little joke and a hearty meal for 
everyone who came along. I boarded there for weeks 
afterwards, and such hearty meals and heartily relished 
by everyone; a milk pan full of hard fried eggs, boiled 
potatoes, elegant white bread, good butter, strong coffee 
with sugar and cream, and dried apple sauce, was the bill 
of fare three times a day and seven days in a week, and 
no one wanted anything more or different. ' ' ^ 

In February, 1870, T. W. Harrison first came to the 
frontier town of Emmetsburg. ^' For several days," he 
says, "I borrowed Jim White's saddle horse and rode 
around the country to see the lay of the land, and in the 
course of a week I became satisfied that this land, which 
would grow natural grasses from six to eight feet high 
on the bottom lands and two to three feet high on the up- 
land prairie, must have a desirable future, and that I was 
willing to settle here and take my chances on its develop- 
ment. Another inducement was the fact that two val- 
uable railroad land grants crossed each other at or near 
the location of Emmetsburg, and I reasoned that those 
two railroads must be built at some time and that there 
would be a town where they crossed each other. So I an- 

1 ' ' Recollections of Early Palo Alto County, ' ' by Geo. B. McCarty. This 
statement from which quotations are made from time to time, has never 
been published, but will be found preserved in the Semi-Centennial Record 
Book. 

2 ' ' Fifty Years Ago in Palo Alto County, " by T. W. Harrison, Des 
Moines Register and Leader, July 8, 1906. This statement was originally 
prepared at my request and was considered of suflScient general interest to 
have same published at that time. It appeared in several of the Em- 
metsburg papers in 1906. It will also be found pasted in the Semi-Cen- 
tennial Record Book, pp. 387-8. 




T. \V. Harrison 



THE OLD TOWN 115 

nounced to the 'Old Settlers' that I had decided to lo- 
cate here. They asked me what my business was. [ said, 
' Lawyer and Real Estate. ' They said, ' You will starve 
to death at that trade.' I said, * I will take my chances 
with the rest of you, ' and they laughed heartily. ' ' ^ 

Mr. McCarty, during the winter, had a table and a few 
books in one corner of the Jones & Johnson store building 
which he had helped to build, and that was his law office. 
In March he had lumber hauled from Fort Dodge, and 
built an office building 14x16. This was the first office 
building in the old town.- 

Among the new arrivals that spring were H. L. Burnell 
and wife, and E. J. Hartshorn. Harrison formed a part- 
nership with Burnell and they put up a small building and 
used it as an office and residence. McCarty and Harts- 
horn formed a partnership in the law and land business 
about the same time. James P. Wliite and W. H. Shea 
also put up an office building. Later M. L. Brown and his 
brother, P. S. Brown, came and built a small hardware 
and agricultural implement building. About this time 
James Fitzgerald and his wife bought the small Daniels 
house and opened up their store. Ketchen and Lenhart 
put up a building for a clothing store. That summer A. D. 
Gallop built the ' ' Valley House ' ' and the little settlement 
began to take on the airs of a town. 

W. J. Brown and Alex Peddie were among the new- 
comers in 1871 who cast their destinies with Emmetsburg. 

In 1872 F. H. Roper became the landlord of the " Valley 

1 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 

2 " I paid $50 per M for dimension lumber, and for flooring and siding, 
etc., about $65 per M. Wlien I got the lumber home, I figured up and found 
my lumber had cost me, including the expenses of the trip, about $120 per 
M. ' ' Statement of Geo. B. McCarty. This historic old building was moved 
to the new town and stood (on lot 2, block 51, Corbin & Lawler's plat) 
just south of McCarty & McCarty 's office until it was destroyed by fire 
in April, 1909. 



116 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

House " and did a thriving business, clearing $1,000 in the 
first five months.^ 

James Fitzgerald was a genial but thrifty merchant and 
his quaint mannerisms furnished amusement for the town. 
Many are the stories told about '' Fitz," as he was pop- 
ularly known. Three of them are worth recording. In 
the early days of the town the boys used to buy cigars, etc., 
at Fitz's little store and he was always willing to give 
change for a ten dollar bill if the customer made a pur- 
chase but ^' no buy, no change " was an inflexible rule of 
the store. W. H. Shea, Jas. P. White and Al Jones put up 
a job on Fitz and began buying cigars, etc., and telling him 
to '' charge them to McCarty." This was done and in the 
course of a week or so Fitz presented his bill of $7.40 to 
McCarty for payment, whereupon the account was indig- 
nantly repudiated as not of his making. Fitz mourned as 
for a lost friend over being swindled in this manner, but 
quietly bided his time and one day "V^^ite and his two 
friends came into the store and asked for some cigars in 
order to get change for a $10 bill. Fitz took the bill and 
quietly tucked it into his inside pocket and busied himself 
arranging his goods. When White asked for the change, 
Fitz coolly answered, '' Oh, charge it to McCarty." On 
another occasion when a customer came in to buy a pocket- 
book but had no money to pay for it, Fitz sorrowfully put 
the pocket-book back on the shelf, remarking, * ' You must 
think me green to sell you a pocket-book on tick when 
you've no money to put in it." One day a lady came into 
his store and wanted to buy a darning needle, for which 
he charged her five cents and when she complained of the 
price, Fitz exclaimed, ' ' The freight, the freight, lady. I 
can 't sell it for less, the freight is so high. ' ' But everyone 
liked good old Jimmie Fitzgerald and his * ' old woman ' ' 

1 Statement of F. H. Roper. 




j\Ev. J. J. Smith 



THE OLD TOWN 117 

who together by thrift acquired enough to retire from 
business cares and live in comfort to a ripe old age. 

At this time Fort Dodge was the terminus of the rail- 
road and all lumber and supplies had to be hauled from 
there. Joe Mulroney was running a small stage from 
Fort Dodge to Spirit Lake once a week to carry the mail 
and such passengers as had no other conveyance. The 
arrival of the weekly mail was an important event and the 
whole town would turn out to welcome the stage on its ar- 
rival. In December of 1870 the McGregor & Missouri 
Eiver Eailway was built as far as Algona and from that 
time on, there was a daily mail by stage from Algona, and 
that place became the terminus and the base of supplies 
for Emmetsburg until the railroad was completed through 
in 1878. 

The Catholic Church was the first church in the old town. 
It was erected in 1871 through the efforts of Father Line- 
han of Fort Dodge. Before this the settlers had gathered 
logs to build a church, but a prairie fire sweeping over the 
prairie had destroyed all the results of their hard labor.' 
This new church was a large structure for those early 
days. Father Smith was the first pastor. He arrived at 
Emmetsburg in December, 1871, when the new church was 
only partially completed. With fearless energy and 
boundless faith the young priest began his life work in the 
new field. He completed the church and organized his 
parish. There were only thirty-nine Catholic families in 
the county then, but his sphere of activity was much 
broader. His parish contained eight counties, but as resi- 
dent priest he had charge not only of Northwest Iowa, 
from Hancock to the state line on the west, but also all 
those counties lying north of Humboldt, Pocahontas, 
Buena Vista and Plymouth. In addition to his charge in 

1 Statement bv Father Smith, Semi-Centennial Kecord Book, p. 211. 



118 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Iowa, he attended to Southwest Minnesota and Eastern 
Dakota. In the Iowa territory there are today twenty- 
seven priests, where the territory was once attended by 
him alone. Moreover, in the tireless and willing discharge 
of his duties on the wild and desolate frontier plains, he 
ministered to the needs of all, and was the kind and cheery 
friend and adviser of all the settlers, regardless of church 
or creed. Father Smith is still in active charge of his 
large and influential church at Emmet sburg, which has 
grown from the small beginnings so auspiciously started 
many years ago. No service that he has ever rendered 
during his long and devoted life has reaped such abundant 
fruit as those years of untiring devotion to the pioneers 
on the Iowa prairie.^ 

In the winter of 1871-2 the scattered Protestant families 
organized a Union Church, John L. Lang being the leading 
spirit, and Rev. B. C. Hammond, who lived on a homestead 
five or six miles northeast of town, preached for them. 
'' This Union Church was afterwards duly incorporated 
and was the forerunner of the present First Congrega- 
tional Church of Emmetsburg. A Union Sunday School 
was also organized by Mr. Lang and conducted by him in 
the spring and summer of 1872. In August, 1872, that 
Little Giant of Methodism, Col. E. S. Ormsby, located in 
the old town and it did not take him long to gather to- 
gether that remnant of the tribe of Israel known as Meth- 
odists and organize a Methodist Episcopal Church and 

1 Very Eev. J. J. Smith was ordained a priest in Dublin, Ireland, June 
26, 1870. After coming to Dubuque on August 30, 1870, he was assistant 
priest at the cathedral for three months. He was then appointed pastor at 
Clermont, Fayette County, from whence he was removed to Emmetsburg in 
December, 1871. A very excellent comparison of those early days with the 
present, written by Father Smith, will be found in the Semi-Centennial 
Record Book, p. 211. See also sketch of his life and work in the Palo Alto 
Tribune. 




Alex. Feddie 




M. F. Kerwick 



THE OLD TOWN 119 

Sunday School which have both been flourishing ever 
since. ' ' ^ 

Others began to locate in the town that was already as- 
suming considerable importance as a trading center. 
There were over 1,000 settlers in the county and Emmets- 
burg was the only town and trading point this side of Al- 
gona and Fort Dodge. T. H. Tobin, Pat Joyce, and John 
Hall started stores. E. S. Ormsby established the first 
bank in 1872 under the name of Bumham, Ormsby & Co., 
capital $10,000. M. F. Kerwick also came in 1872. 

The town had grown so naturally along the Coonan road, 
that no plat had been made at first and the buildings had 
been located in Coonan 's corn field or pasture at the whim 
of the newcomer, but in the summer of 1870 Mr. Coonan 
had some blocks and lots surveyed out and later had the 
plat recorded as ' ' Emmetsburg. ' ' ^ 

The Democrat, published by Jas. P. White, at Soda Bar, 
and the Advance, published by McCarty & Hartshorn and 
Harrison & Burnell, were the rival papers that flourished 
throughout the exciting campaign of 1870. But when 
White lost the treasurership at that election his paper 
soon after went out of business and the Advance sold out 
to Bates & Hagedon, who discontinued the old name and 
started the Palo Alto Patriot in June, 1873.^ After a year 
the Patriot sold out to the Palo Alto Printing Company, 
who dropped the old title and began the Palo Alto Pilot. 
The first issue was June 11, 1874, and was printed in the 

1 ' ' Fifty Years Ago in Palo Alto County, " by T. W. Harrison, Register 
and Leader, July 8, 1906. 

2 May 24, 1871, recorder's office, Palo Alto County. 

3 The most careful search and extended inquiry have failed to find a single 
copy of either the Democrat or Advance, and it is believed that time and 
inattention have destroyed these valuable historical records. One copy of 
the Patriot was once discovered among some old papers at Algona. It was dat- 
ed June, 1874, and marked in pencil, "the last copy of the Patriot," and con- 
tained a notice of the dissolution of the firm of Bates & Hagedon, the pub- 
ishers. But even this copy is now lost. 



120 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

Old Town/ J. C. Bennett, who worked on this paper, 
says : ' ' When I first came in contact with it in July, 1873, 
it was a pretty badly mixed up outfit. It had evidently 
been stored in someone 's barn at some time. The first ink 
we had to work with was about half straw. The first 
court calendar printed for use in the county was printed 
in the Pilot office in the early part of the winter of 1873. 
I have a copy of that somewhere. The Pilot office in the 
Old Town was located in the building that is now occupied 
by McCrum as a shoe store. It was made of nothing but 
siding and thin ceiling. The only press was an old worn- 
out hand press. Had to print the calendar on the old 
hand press in freezing weather, and it was pretty hard to 
do anything. . . The Pilot was edited by different par- 
ties, first by J. L. Martin, then by Rev. J. E. Eowen, who 
was the Methodist preacher here. A. W. Utter was next 
editor. I was with it from the fall of 1874 to June, 1876. ' ' '^ 

In 1871-2 several houses were built on the hill a mile 
east of the Old Town. T. W. Harrison built his house in 
the spring of 1871 (the one now occupied by Mr. Appleby), 
John L. Lang in the fall of 1871, and Captain Hartshorn 
and E. J. White built theirs in the spring of 1872. ' ' These 
houses ^ were half way between the Old Town and the loca- 
tion where the new town was expected to be laid out. 
They were the first houses on the present town site of Em- 
metsburg as they are now in the northwest part of our 
present city." 

''That (1872) was the summer of brides for the new 
town. Mrs. T. W. Harrison, Mrs. Emory King, Mrs. Al 
Jones, Mrs. Ben Johnson, and Mrs. A. L. Ormsby, all came 
as brides. Some of them were disappointed at not finding 

1 Odd numbers of the Pilot have been found, and J. C. Bennett has pre- 
served a file, beginning with no. 20 of vol. i, Oct. 22, 1874, to no. 47 of 
vol. ii. May 11, 1876. 

2 Statement of J. C. Bennett. 

3 Statement of T. W. Harrison. Letter of Capt. E. J. Hartshorn. 




W. |. liROWN 




M. L. Brown 



THE OLD TOWN 121 

a larger town in fact, as they had read glowing descrip- 
tions of it in the numerous letters from their lovers for a 
year or more before. But they made a happy addition to 
the new town society, and were each in turn vigorously, 
if not delightfully, serenaded by Duncan's Band." ^ 

' ' Among the old settlers who lived in the vicinity were 
' Paddy in the Bush ' (Patrick Nolan, who lived in the 
woods north of town) ; ' Paddy on the Flat ' (Patrick No- 
lan, who lived on the river bottom south of town) ; ' Paddy 
Green ' (Patrick Nolan, who lived on the west shore of 
Medium Lake) ; Mrs. Laughlin, the character of the com- 
munity, who lived south of town, always full of her jokes 
and witticisms ; Dan Kane, who lived in the woods north 
of town ; Mr. and Mrs. Martin Coonan, Sr., who kept the 
only boarding house in or about the town; John Pender- 
gast, who lived near the lake where Mr. Saunders's man- 
sion now stands ; John Nolan, who lived on the west side 
of the lake; William O'Connell, who lived west of the 
river; Wm. E. Cullen, William Murphy, and Charles Hast- 
ings, who lived south of town ; James Hickey, Larry Burns 
and Pat Lannon, who lived west of the river and south 
of town; James Nolan, Martin Laughlin, Lott Laughlin, 
Jerry Crowley, Miles Mahan, Ed Mahan, Billy Jackman, 
and Patsy Jackman, at Walnut ; Mickey Jackman on the 
east side of the lake ; T. H. Tobin, William Shea, Thomas 
Shea, Robert Shea, Joe Mulroney, Kiren Mulroney, Will- 
iam Mahar, and others at Soda Bar in Nevada township ; 
Michael Kirby, John Doran, Dan Doran, and others, west 
of the river in Great Oak township; John Neary and 
Thomas Welch, east of the river, and some others whose 
names I do not now recall." - 

Other people located in the town from time to time, until 
in 1874 there were forty or more business buildings and 

1 T. W. Harrison 's statement. 

2 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 



122 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

houses. But all the buildings along the Coonan road were 
small and cheaply constructed, as it was realized that the 
railroad company would locate a depot on its own ground 
and that those on the Coonan plat would have to move or 
there would be two towns within a few miles of each other. 
It was in the summer of 1874 that the Old Town reached 
the acme of its existence, for in a few short months it dis- 
appeared like the mist before the morning sun and the 
new and fairer city on the hill took its place in history. 




Pat Joyce 




The New Town of Em.metsbur(; in 1878 



CHAPTER XII 

The Neiu Emmetsburg 

With all its sudden growth and outward prosperity, the 
old town of Emmetsburg on the river was but transitory. 
The buildings were all rough, temporary structures, or 
built on posts, as it was expected that the railway would 
plat a town elsewhere, and that the town would have to be 
moved some time. Mr. Coonan did not take the trouble to 
convey lots or plat the town for several years. Moreover, 
the location which chance had selected was not at all suit- 
able for a permanent town. 

This unsettled condition produced a spirit of uneasiness 
among the people that grew stronger as the railroad com- 
pany in 1873 began to build from Algona westward. Even 
when railroad operations suddenly ceased, the dissatisfac- 
tion with local conditions grew until in 1874, when the 
agitation for a change began to take definite form. 

Gen. John Lawler of Prairie du Chien, Wis., who was an 
officer of the railroad company, had bought the northeast 
quarter of section 25-96-33 for the purpose of a town site 
and the railroad had been surveyed through that tract. 
Austin Corbin of New York City owned the northwest 
quarter of section 30-96-32, adjoining the Lawler quarter 
on the east, and was anxious to get in on the town site 
proposition. T. W. Harrison was the attorney for Mr. 
Lawler and the railroad, and Geo. B. McCarty was the at- 
torney for Mr. Corbin. Mr. McCarty thus describes the 
negotiations : * ' Mr. Corbin gave me special authority to 
act for him and to visit the officers of the railroad company 
with a view to making arrangements looking to the loca- 



124 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

tion of a depot and town site. In July I went to Prairie dii 
Cliien and saw Gen. John Lawler, who promised to meet 
me in Milwaukee next day. I then went to Milwaukee and 
saw S. S. Merrill, general manager, and Alex Mitchell, 
president of the railroad, and had several hours' session 
with Lawler, Merrill and Mitchell, and an agreement was 
then reached that the railroad company was to proceed at 
once in connection with Austin Corbin and plat the north- 
east quarter 25-96-33 and the northwest quarter 30-96-32 
into a town site and town lots ; that the township line be- 
tween said quarters should be the principal street and that 
the depot should be located within 200 feet of said line and 
that a court house square be platted on the highest point 
east of said line and dedicated to the use of the countj^ for 
court house purposes, provided the county took steps to 
locate the county seat there within a reasonable time. 
That a public park of not to exceed a square of four blocks 
should be located on the high ground near the northeast 
corner of the northeast quarter 25-96-33 and dedicated to 
the use of the town as a public park. That they were to 
proceed at once to plat out the town site and when so plat- 
ted that part of the site on the northwest quarter of 30-96- 
32 should be equally divided between Austin Corbin and 
John Lawler, that is each alternate lot or block as the 
agents of the respective parties should agree. 

" It was further agreed that before said division was 
made each person who owned a lot in the Coonan plat with 
a business or dwelling building thereon and would move 
his building to the Corbin and Lawler site before Decem- 
ber 1, 1874, should have a lot donated to him upon which 
to locate his building, and other persons who would build 
and erect a good, substantial, new business building or 
residence on said plat on or before December 1, 1874, 
should have a lot donated to them, in consideration of their 



THE NEW EMMETSBURG 125 

moving or erecting buildings. It was provided that no 
two persons should be located on adjacent lots. There 
must be at least one intervening lot between. That after 
locations were made deeds should be made to said parties 
and remaining lots divided. It was also stipulated on the 
part of the railroad company that this agreement was to 
be subject to the approval of Gen. Dodge, chief engineer 
of the company, and that before said town was so laid out 
and platted Gen. Dodge should designate on the ground 
what land was required by the railroad company for right 
of way and depot grounds and Gen. Dodge should definite- 
ly locate the right of way, tracks, and depot site and that 
when the road was constructed to Emmetsburg the rail- 
road company contracted to erect their depot on said site 
so selected and make it their permanent depot site. I then 
went to Madison, Wis., and saw General Dodge and he ap- 
proved of the agreement and agreed that he would have 
the plat of depot grounds and site ready within ten days, 
or as soon as he could take some additional measurements, 
etc. It was also agreed that I was to act as the agent for 
Austin Corbin, and T. W. Harrison was to act as agent 
for the railroad company, and we were to proceed to sur- 
vey and plat the town as soon as possible." ^ 

By this compromise a town site war was avoided, and 
the original plat was called Corbin & Lawler's Plat of 
Emmetsburg and is so known to this day. This division 
also secured for the county-seat the beautiful court house 
square, and the spacious public park in the west part of 
town. The Corbin quarter in Freedom township had or- 
iginally been homesteaded by Thomas Mahar in the early 
sixties. His cabin stood at the southeast corner of the 



1 Statement of Geo. B. McCarty. These recollections of early days by 
Mr. McCarty have never been published, but a copy of them may be found 
in the Semi-Centennial Record Book. 



126 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

court house square and only a few years ago a slight de- 
pression there plainly marked the place of his cellar. 
Mr. Mahar abandoned his claim soon after taking it. 

Wliile these preliminaries were being arranged, T. W. 
Harrison was busy preparing for the removal of the Old 
Town to the new location. Mr. Harrison describes these 
events as follows : ' ' One morning in June, 1874, when I 
went to my office, I found a delegation of the business men 
waiting for me. They said that a meeting of the business 
men was being held in one of the stores and they wanted 
me to come over to it. I was then the attorney and agent 
for the railroad company, and they wanted to know if I 
thought the railroad company would plat out the railroad 
town site and give them a lot for each building they would 
move over if they would move at once, as the risk from fire 
was too great where they were, and their stocks of goods 
were getting too large to carry without insurance, and they 
wanted to get on pemianent lots and enlarge their build- 
ings. I told them I thought the company would do that, 
but that the company would want some guarantee that 
they would move in case the railroad town site was platted. 
They told me to draw up any kind of an agreement and 
bond I desired, and they would sign it. I prepared an 
agreement and bond with a forfeiture of $500 each in case 
they did not move as soon as the lots were ready for them, 
and they all signed it, fifteen of the leading business men 
of the Old Town. I took the agreement and bond to John 
Lawler, the vice-president of the railroad company at 
Prairie du Chien, Wis., and he said, ' Yes, the company 
will do that,' but that he would have to submit it to the 
directors in New York City. He said it would take about 
a week for him to get an answer and for me to return 
home and hold myself in readiness upon receipt of a tele- 



THE NEW EMMETSBURG 127 

gram from him, to go ahead then and plat the railroad 
town site. ' ' ^ 

When at last the telegram was received stating that the 
negotiations had been approved, Mr. McCarty and Mr. 
Harrison hired Le Eoy Grout to do the surveying and be- 
gan to plat and lay out the new town.^ 

'' The grass was tall, in many places up to our hips, and 
in some places as high as our heads. Not a tree nor a 
shrub in sight — just prairie. We got a team and mower 
and set flags and would mow two swaths through so we 
could see to set and line up the stakes. When the survey 
was well along the question of moving came up. In the 
meantime dissensions had arisen. Coonan had become 
awake and was offering special inducements for them to 
stay and others got discouraged at the thought of moving 
out on the prairie and locating their buildings in the tall 
grass, without a furrow broken, no roads or paths. In 
fact it did not look very inviting. About this time some of 
the dissenters held a meeting and resolved they would not 
move and about one-half of them agreed to this. Then the 
question came up and was discussed pro and con for three 
or four days. ' ' ^ 

Martin Coonan told them that a hard winter was coming 
on and that they would freeze and starve out in '' Stake- 

1 T. W. Harrison, "Fifty Years Ago in Palo Alto County," Register and 
Leader, July 8, 1906. 

2 This account of the beginning of the new town is taken mainly from 
the statements of T. W. Harrison and Geo. B. McCarty, the two principal 
actors in this drama. As here given it is reenforced by the recollections 
of M. L. Brown, E. J. Hartshorn, Alex. Peddie, J. C, Bennett, and others. 
Mr. Harrison's statement, as it appeared in 1906, contained some inac- 
curacies which he would doubtless have corrected if a later revision had 
been made after talking with others and refreshing his memory. The ac- 
count presented in these pages has been carefully verified and is believed 
to be an accurate history of this interesting period. See early files of the 
Pilot for the life of the new town. See also Appendix D for sample 
items. 

3 Geo. B. McCarty 's statement. 



128 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

town" as he called it; that they had better stay right 
where they were and he would give them all the lots they 
wanted. These were potent arguments, and the business 
men became exceedingly lukewarm on the subject of mov- 
ing. I had procured a house moving outfit to come here 
from Humboldt with their teams and tools, all ready to do 
the moving. The business men dreaded the trouble and 
expense of moving. The house movers were clamoring to 
commence their work, and one day while I was out of town 
they loaded up my office, moved it out and dropped it on 
the corner where the Waverly Hotel now stands, and it 
stood there a lone speck on the prairie for two or three 
weeks. If it had not been for the bond the business men 
would have been strongly inclined to remain where they 
were. But I assured them with great earnestness that the 
company would collect that bond from every one of them. 
Finally we got the four leading merchants together in a 
room, and handed them the plat of the new town and said 
that we would give them their choice of comers and give 
each of them two lots on a comer if they would move over 
at once, and wherever they located would center the busi- 
ness of the town, and be the most valuable property in 
town. They said that was fair, and that they would do 
it."^ 

It was on September 2, 1874, that the Harrison office 
was moved up to the new site and as the first lone building 
on the prairie, marked the beginning of the prospective 
town. The second building moved up was the McCarty 
office building, occupied by McCarty & Hartshorn, which 
was located on lot 2, block 51, where it stood just south of 
the present McCarty & McCarty law office until burned in 
April of 1909. The third building moved was the White 
& Shea office, which was moved over to the opposite side of 

1 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 



THE NEW EMMETSBURG 129 

the street, to lot 1, block 52, where Berger's store is now 
located. The fourth was Tobin & Co.'s general store. 

'' Early the next morning," says T. W. Harrison, " the 
movers loaded the Tobin store building on their trucks, 
and started for the new town, while all the people looked 
on and wondered. The building was not large, but it took 
several days to move it to the new site, and Mr. Tobin was 
selling goods out of the back door all along the way. He 
was so well known and so universally liked, and the nov- 
elty of the situation gave him such an advertisement that 
a large crowd of customers followed him to the new town, 
and his business was larger than it had ever been before, 
so much so that he said he wished that the other merchants 
would not move, but leave the new town trade to him and 
he would be perfectly satisfied."^ This building was 
placed on the corner where the Tobin Block is now occu- 
pied by the Farmers' Savings Bank. The fifth was the 
Ketchen & Lenhart clothing store, which was moved to 
lot 1, block 37, the corner where the Emmetsburg National 
Bank now stands. 

* ' Then came a halt, ' ' says Geo. B. McCarty in describing 
the events. ' ' No one would make a start. Those who had 
moved up cut the grass and set out a few hitching posts 
and were ready for business. Several days were spent in 
trying to get others to move but without avail. About 
this time T. C. Davis, who was the postmaster, said that 
he would put up a building if they would give him a lot. 
He selected lot 6, block 37, and began his building. In the 
meantime we had forwarded a petition to Washington to 
have permission to move the postoffice, but red tape and 
remonstrance held it up for some time. In the meantime 
two or three small dwellings had been moved up. Then 
Ormsbys agreed to have their bank building and E. S. 
Ormsby's house moved. P. Joyce and Jas. Fitzgerald, 

1 statement of T. W. Harrison. 



130 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

each having a general store, refused to move, and the 
others joined with them, John D. Hall saying that he 
would move if the others would agree to. Finally a meet- 
ing was held at which there were those who had moved 
and those favorable, which lasted until near midnight to 
devise ways and means to break the deadlock. The mov- 
ers ' outfit was idle and on expense and they threatened to 
leave. It was finally agreed that the parties present 
would pay the movers when not at work for the next week 
and appeal to the people of the county. A painter by the 
name of Walt Duncan was put to work painting boards — 
'Staketown or bust,' Staketown being the name given 
to the new town by those opposed, 'On to Staketown,' 
'Staketown only station on this line,' 'Staketown will 
pay more for farm products and sell goods cheaper.' 
These were nailed on to stakes and set up on all roads, 
nailed to bridges, etc., and men were sent out and sta- 
tioned on all roads to appeal to the farmers to stand by us 
and aid us in having one good town and the county-seat 
located there without a county-seat war ; that the location 
was a central one and that the railroad would build their 
depot there under their contract, etc. Whereas on the 
other hand it would be two small towns within one and 
one-half miles of each other, always scrapping and fight- 
ing, a county-seat war, postoffice fight, etc., which argu- 
ments seemed to take well with the farmers (Emmetsburg 
was the only town in the county at that time, no other trad- 
ing or business place). Many of them permitted sigiis to 
be put on their wagons or chalked, 'Staketown or bust,' 
and would drive straight through the Old Town to ' Stake- 
town.' It was a winning card and turned the tide of 
events. The Tobin store had to get extra clerks and one 
Saturday took in $153 in cash and over $200 worth of 
farm products. Had to saw 2x4 lumber and set them in 
the ground to hitch teams to. While the Old Town had a 



THE NEW EMMETSBURG 131 

quietude settle over it. Within a week they gave in and 
even offered a high bonus to be moved first.^ So that by- 
December 1st, the Old Town had moved up, and the new 
town loomed up on its hill and could be seen from almost 
any part of the county, with not a tree or shrub to hide 
it."^ 

'' Miss Mary McGroarty, sister of Mrs. A. L. Ormsby, 
was a musician and musical composer, and she w^rote a 
new march which she called ' The March of Emmetsburg, ' 
as she witnessed the flight of the town from the old to the 
new site."^ 

The new town of Emmetsburg, after many vicissitudes, 
had at last become a reality. Later generations owe a 
debt of gratitude to the wisdom and foresight of the men 
of 1874 who gave us a central, well located, beautiful 
county-seat, with ample room for broad growth and ad- 
vancement as time goes by. 

One opportunity, however, appears to have slipped by. 
Mr. Harrison says : ''I had planned at the time to change 
the name of the new town to ' Merrill,' the name of the 
general manager and most potent factor in the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. I had Mr. Merrill in my 
office in the spring of 1875 and submitted the matter to 
him, and it pleased him greatly. He said : ' That means 
spending $20,000 to help make the town grow. ' I replied 
that ' I hoped so. ' I discussed that matter with the busi- 
ness men of the town, and some of them objected so vig- 
orously because they said they had advertised Emmets- 
burg so extensively that it would hurt their business to 
make any change in the name, that I finally dropped the 

1 " p. Joyce is waiting anxiously for his store building, which is out 
running a race with that of Jas. Fitzgerald from the old town to the new. 
At present Fitz is a few yards ahead." Palo Alto Pilot, Oct. 22, 1874, 
vol. i, no. 20. 

2 Statement of Geo. B. McCarty. 

3 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 



132 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

subject. But if that had been done the city would now 
have 10,000 or more population. I learned afterward that 
Mr. Merrill built the Estherville Branch with the idea that 
the name would be so changed, and it was his plan to com- 
plete it through to Fargo, North Dakota, and make this 
city the division point for that line, with its offices, round- 
house and shops at this place. The original railroad name 
for this station was ' Sage, ' in honor of Russell Sage, who 
was a stockholder and director in the company, but as 
Mr. Merrill then had no town named for him in Iowa, it 
would have pleased him greatly to have this town given 
his name, and he would have made it one of the most im- 
portant points on the whole Iowa and Dakota division. ' ' ^ 

Yet the citizens were progressive and hard working and 
the town grew rapidly. Mr. Harrison thus describes the 
selling of the lots in the new town : "I made up the sched- 
ule of prices for selling the lots in the new town, placing 
the best residence lots at $25 each, and the best business 
lots at $250 each, and submitted it to the land commission- 
er of the railroad company. He said, ' Oh, no ! you have 
the prices too high. Put the best business lots at $50 each, 
and the best residence lots at $25 each. We want that 
town to grow so as to make business for our road when we 
build over there.' I said, ' All right, you are the boss, but 
I would take them all if I had the money, for the best lots 
will soon be worth $1,000 each.' The lots sold fast, and 
the town grew rapidly and lots which were then sold for 
$50 each, are now worth from $3,000 to $4,000 each." ' 

In the spring of 1875 the first sod was turned for the 
planting of trees and gardens. The trees around the 
court house square were planted by the citizens them- 
selves, each planting a tree and caring for it as it grew. 
Thus early was the practice of planting trees encouraged, 

1 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 

2 Statement of T. W. Harrison. 




E. S. Ormsbv 



THE NEW EMMETSBURG 133 

and to the far-seeing policy thus begun, we owe the chief 
beauty of our city that is known far and wide as the 
'' Shade Tree City " of Northwestern Iowa. 

In this first spring after the Old Town was moved to its 
new location, E. S. Ormsby who had moved his building to 
the location where the First National Bank now stands, 
and controlled the land north of Main street, which is now 
known as Burnham's addition, broke up a large tract of 
this and planted it to wheat, and that sunmier after the 
wheat was cut people began to build their houses there 
and it was a very peculiar sight to see the houses dotting 
the stubble fields/ 

In the fall of 1875 by almost unanimous vote the county- 
seat of the county was changed from the mythical ' ' Paoli ' ' 
to the beautiful square donated and designated on the plat 
of Emmetsburg as ' ' Court House Square. " " In 1876 
A. L. Ormsby built his brick residence on the hill, the first 
brick building in new Emmetsburg. The town was incor- 
porated in 1877, M. L. Brown being the first mayor. 

Emmetsburg continued to grow and prosper as settlers 
became more numerous throughout the county. The pros- 
pect of the railroad also attracted people, but the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Kailway did not complete its road 
through to Emmetsburg until August, 1878. The B., C. R. 
& N. Ry., now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, was 
built to Emmetsburg in 1882. With these two railroads, 
the town became a city and prosperity smiled upon it. 

In 1880 the brick court house was built. It was a large 
and substantial building for those times and still stands 
as a worthy public building for a prosperous county. In 
the same year, T. H. Tobin built the first brick store build- 
ing in the town. The First National Bank Building and 
Waverly Hotel were built in 1882. Other substantial 

1 statement of J. C. Young. 

2 Minutes and Supervisors' Eecord, Palo Alto County, vol. i, pp. 413 and 
424. 



134 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

buildings followed ^ until now Emmetsburg with its 3,000 
inhabitants, six elegant churches, and its splendid schools, 
many substantial business buildings, with elegant resi- 
dences, unsurj^assed by any town in Iowa — stands a monu- 
ment to its founders and builders, as well as the worthy 
county-seat of the great and prosperous county of Palo 
Alto. 



1 Many facts about the later history of the city will be found in the 
Christmas Souvenir edition of the Emmetsburg Democrat, 1895. The files 
of the Palo Alto Reporter, Emmetsburg Democrat, and Palo Alto Tribune, 
are replete with contemporaneous history of the city, but full narration of 
those events would fill another volume and must be left for some future 
historian. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Period of Development — 1873-1910 

The year 1873 was one long to be remembered. It ush- 
ered in the years of adversity, that tried the stoutest heart. 
The hard times, the grasshoppers and the wet seasons, 
together made a combination that threatened bankruptcy 
for even the most industrious. These years of toil and 
sorrow are a sad but necessary part of the county's his- 
tory. 

The grasshoppers of the Rocky Mountain region paid 
a visit to Iowa and adjacent states in 1873-4 and again in 
1876-7. It is difficult to describe the ravages of these in- 
sects and hard to realize the extent of the suffering that 
their devastation caused the pioneers. These insects are 
a species of locust or grasshopper that breeds abundantly 
every year, by boring holes in the ground and filling these 
holes with eggs during August, and these eggs hatch out 
the following spring. Hundreds of these eggs are laid by 
a single insect and the rate of propagation is enonnous. 
When hatched out the young feed on the tender vegetation 
near by and when they have eaten everything in sight they 
migrate in great swarms, devouring grain, garden vege- 
tables, growing crops, young grass, and everything of a 
like nature. These pests traveled in dense swarms, often 
several miles wide, obscuring the sun and making a roar- 
ing noise like the sound of a waterfall. They traveled 
mostly in the warm portion of the day, and in the early 
mornings and cool evenings would gather in loose grass 
or protected places for shelter and warmth. This fact 
was made use of by the farmers to destroy the pests. 



136 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

which were often shoveled up in great quantities from 
sheltered places, and loose straw and hay were scattered 
around and then burned when covered with the " hop- 
pers." These grasshoppers often covered twenty miles 
a day in their flight, leaving in their path a region dev- 
astated as though swept by a prairie fire. The old settlers 
remember vividly the events of these visitations, that were 
like the ' ' plague of locusts ' ' that visited the Egyptians in 
the days of Pharoah.^ 

The climatic conditions were such, however, that the 
grasshoppers could not survive after the second year. In 
1876, when they appeared in this county for the second 
time, a determined fight was made to destroy them as 
soon as hatched, and protect the growing crops. The 
county was organized in the spring, the county buying 
large sheets of tin and barrels of tar, which were distrib- 
uted throughout the county, and from these ' ' hopper 
dozers " were constructed. The long sheets of tin were 
fastened together and bent up at the bottom side and filled 
with tar. These tins were then put on wheels or carried 
through the fields, knocking the grasshoppers off the grain 
and into the tar, from which they were taken in large quan- 
tities and burned.^ The following year the grasshoppers 
departed unwept and unmourned and have never since 
appeared in this part of the country. 

These repeated ravages of the grasshopper pests were a 
serious hardship on the early settlers striving to make a 
living on the Iowa prairie. With crops destroyed, gardens 
ruined, their incomes thus cut off, real privation and 

1 ' ' For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land waa 
darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all of the fruit 
of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green 
thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of 
Egypt. ' ' — Exodus x : 15. 

2 Palo Alto Reporter, June 9, 1877. See also March 3, 1877, June 2, 
1877. 



THE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT — 1873-1910 137 

starvation stared them in the face. Many had to seek 
other means of employment in order to live and it was only 
the courageous and determined persistence and hope of 
the pioneers that brought them through this crisis in our 
history. 

The grasshoppers had so completely devastated the 
prairies that food and provisions were very scarce. This 
scarcity was intensified by the terrible money panic of 

1873, inaugurated by the disastrous "Black Friday" on 
Wall Street, which spread its ominous results throughout 
the country. Money was almost unknown and the settlers 
had to subsist as best they could on game and what few 
provisions they could procure. Many of the settlers were 
in desperate circumstances. 

The condition of the people became very deplorable in 

1874, especially during the winter months. The extremely 
wet weather and the ravages of the grasshoppers had left 
them without crops, and many of them in such destitute 
circumstances as to be '' unable to procure food, clothing, 
or seed to sow for the coming season. ' ' These facts were 
set out in a resolution adopted by the board of supervisors 
February 4, 1874, and forwarded to Hon. E. J. Hartshorn, 
then a member of the general assembly of Iowa, and ask- 
ing for relief in their time of need.^ Nothing, however, 
came of this appeal and the people of the county were 
compelled to work out their own salvation, which they did 
with persevering courage and hopefulness. 

But these reverses and troubles soon came to an end. 
After a year or two their effects had been overcome. The 
splendid courage and determination of the settlers sur- 
mounted all obstacles, and the tremendous fertility of the 
soil soon yielded an abundance that brought a return of 
prosperity. Adversity was after all short-lived and the 

1 Minutes, Supervisors' Beeord, no. 1, p. 347. A copy of the said reso- 
lution will be found in full in Appendix C to this history. 



138 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

final period of development was at last ushered in and the 
county grew in population and prosperity with a steady 
and healthful advance. Space allows mention of only a 
few incidents in this long and eventful period. 

The prosperity of the county continued to increase. An 
article in the Palo Alto Reporter October 7, 1876, says: 
' ' Lands range from $2 to $10 per acre, wild, and from $8 
to $20 improved. . . Dairying and stock-raising are 
becoming favorite industries of the county. In 1874 the 
county exported $30,000 worth of butter and $80,000 worth 
of cattle. In 1875 $50,000 in butter and $100,000 in fat 
cattle." 

The schools of the county were increasing in number 
and efficiency. A. L. Day, who was elected county super- 
intendent of schools in 1873, was a man of culture and 
scholarly attainments. Mr. Day started a private school 
at Emmetsburg in 1874 and Miss Maria Blair ^ acted as 
deputy superintendent until the Old Town was moved up 
to the present site. J. C. Bennett was elected superintend- 
ent the following year and served one term. 

One of the first Normal Institutes of which there is a 
record in the newspapers was held in October, 1876. Miss 
Bassett and J. L. Martin were the instructors. About 
fifty teachers were enrolled and an instinictive program 
was carried out successfully. 

The county schools were indeed becoming an important 
factor in the development of the county. No one man 
perhaps exerted more influence upon the schools of the 
county in an early day than J. L. Martin, who was not 
only a pioneer settler but a pioneer in school work. He 
was elected county superintendent in 1869 and as a teacher 
and instructor for many years thereafter took an active 
and influential part in perfecting the school system of the 
county. 

1 Maria Blair and George B. McCarty were married December 14, 1875. 



THE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT — 1873-1910 139 

Along in 1871 some difficulties had arisen over the 
swamp lands which had been conveyed to Wm. E, Clark 
in 1860. The board of supervisors finally appointed a 
committee, consisting of Geo. B. McCarty, Robt. Shea and 
Wm. E. Cullen, to investigate these swamp titles and they 
reported that the finances of the county were not in a con- 
dition to bear the expense of quieting these titles, but that 
the board make the best possible terms with the intending 
purchasers of the interest of the county and that the pur- 
chasers quiet the title in their own name and at their own 
expense, and suggesting that the board call a special elec- 
tion to ascertain the wishes of the people thereon, although 
this was not absolutely imperative.^ Again in 1874 a 
committee composed of W. H. Shea and T. W. Harrison 
was authorized to investigate the unpatented swamp lands 
of the county and procure patenting of such lands as soon 
as possible. And as these tracts were not listed for tax- 
ation, being unsettled and their ownership uncertain, in 
the words of the record ' ' the county was losing large sums 
annually," and in order to remedy this the board agreed 
to quit claim all the swamp and overflowed lands, that were 
duly patented to the county, and not included in the de- 
scription in the county's deed to Mr. Stockdale. These 
transactions as to the disposal of the swamp and over- 
flowed lands show how little value was attached to this 
land at that time. Vast tracts of land were thus practic- 
ally given away which are now being drained and reclaim- 
ed and made the most fertile farming land in the country. 

A memorable convention was held at Le Mars in 1874 to 
nominate a candidate for district attorney for the north- 
west district of Iowa. That was before the days of the 
county attorneys, when the prosecuting attorney traveled 
around the circuit with the judges. Geo. B. McCarty from 
Palo Alto County, E. B. Soper of Estherville, Lewis, 

1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 212. 



140 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

from Cherokee, Evans from Harrison County, Judge Rob- 
inson of Buena Vista, and Judge Ford of Sioux City, were 
the candidates before the convention. Emmetsburg sent 
a delegation of politicians, T. W. Harrison, Capt. E. J. 
Hartshorn, M. L. Brown, and Charlie Ketchen. After 
an exciting convention the Emmetsburg candidate succeed- 
ed in getting the nomination. The trip home was nearly 
as exciting as the convention, as the delegates vividly 
remember hauling their horses out of swamps and deep 
water and many acts of heroism and daring in getting 
across the swollen streams that several times threatened 
to engulf the whole party. 

In the fall election Geo. B. McCarty was elected district 
attorney for the western district of Iowa. The next year 
he removed to Sioux City, in order to be nearer his work, 
and remained there until September, 1878, when he re- 
signed the office, returned to Emmetsburg, and permanent- 
ly resumed the practice of law at the county seat of Palo 
Alto County. 

An agricultural society was organized in Palo Alto 
County in December, 1876, and January, 1877.^ After 
several preliminary conferences the following officers were 
elected at a meeting at the office of T. W. Harrison, Jan- 
uary, 1877: 

President — J. C. Baker. 

Vice President — Jas. Scott. 

Secretary — C. A. Hoffman. 

Treasurer — T. W. Harrison. 

And one director from each township.^ 

This was the beginning of the society that held annual 
fairs for so many years and that still owns the grounds 
south of Emmetsburg. 

1 Beporter, Dec. 16, 1876, vol. ii, no. 27, and Dec. 30, 1876, vol. ii, no. 
29, and Jan. 20, 1877, vol. ii, no. 32. 

a Beporter, Jan. 20, 1877, vol. ii, no. 32. 



THE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT — 1873-1910 141 

The railroad was so slow in coming that the enterprising 
citizens of Emmetsburg decided to build a road of their 
own. ''The Des Moines River R. R." was organized with 
E. S. Ormsby as president and A. W. Utter as secretary, 
for the purpose of building a road south from Emmets- 
burg through the county. At a directors' meeting Janu- 
ary, 1877, steps were taken to vote a tax and other arrange- 
ments made. The newspaper report optimistically con- 
cluded as follows : ' ' The meeting was well attended and a 
commendable amount of enthusiasm and unanimity of feel- 
ing manifested. ' ' ^ Taxes were voted in one or two town- 
ships and voted down in others, and this reverse effectual- 
ly crippled the enterprise. The building of the Milwaukee 
the following year and the Burlington a few years later put 
a damper on home roads, and though this branch was 
periodically agitated, it never was consummated. 

The failure of the railroad to build through to Emmets- 
burg as expected was a great disappointment to the people. 
With the terminus of the road only twenty-five miles dis- 
tant at Algona, it was expected that the new town would 
soon have railroad facilities. But year after year passed 
and the railroad company became involved in litigation 
over ''overlapping" grants with other roads and did not 
comply with the requirement of their grant from the state, 
that the road be built through to Sheldon by December 1, 
1877. The question of forfeiture of the grant became the 
issue in the Legislature in 1878. Capt. E. J. Hartshorn 
of Emmetsburg was state senator from this district and 
was a member of the Committee on Railroads in the Sen- 
ate. In writing of the situation, he says: "We had a 
big fight over the old McGregor and Missouri River R. R. 
land grant. They had only built to Algona and their time 
was more than up for building through to Sheldon. The B., 
C. R. & N.'s terminus was then in Grundy County, and 

1 Palo Alto Be porter, Jan. 20, 1877, vol. ii, no. 32. 



142 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

wanted to build up to Algona, take this grant and build on 
west from there. They made a tremendous effort in the 
Legislature, backed by powerful state interests, but gen- 
erally along the line of the incompleted portion of the 
McGregor road the people wanted the grant taken from 
the old construction company and given to the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul road. After an exciting struggle 
we won out and the road was built from Algona to Patter- 
sonville (now Hull I think) in O'Brien County that season 
(1878) . " ^ It was with great rejoicing that the first train 
was welcomed at Emmetsburg in 1878 and the town began 
at once to grow and expand commensurate with its im- 
portance as the county-seat of the prosperous county of 
Palo Alto. 

The long heralded railroad from the south finally be- 
came a reality in 1881, when the B., C. R. & N. R. R. com- 
menced building their tracks through this county north to 
Estherville, Spirit Lake, etc. When the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee & St. Paul found that the B., C. R. & N. was about 
to build from Emmetsburg to Estherville, they became 
alarmed lest the new road should take a part of the terri- 
tory which they had intended to occupy and cut them out 
from a line which they had projected from Emmetsburg 
northwest via Estherville, Jackson and Crookston, Minne- 
sota, and then north to Winnipeg. This was a pet scheme 
of S. S. Merrill, the general manager of the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee & St. Paul railway. The Burlington, as the old 
B., C. R. & N. road was called, had no sooner made their 
survey and begun grading than the Milwaukee rushed 
contractors, laborers and material to Emmetsburg and 
began to push the construction of a branch road north. 
This unusual activity stirred the Burlington and they 
redoubled their efforts and there began across the northern 

1 Letter of Capt. E. J. Hartshorn, Washington, D. C. See also the files 
of the Beporter during this time. 



THE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT — 1873-1910 143 

part of Palo Alto County a race in construction of rail- 
roads that is one of the most memorable in the history of 
the west. Neck and neck the two roads struggled as far 
as Osgood, six miles north of Emmetsburg, where the Bur- 
lington being slightly in the lead, drew in close to the low 
line of bluffs north of Osgood, which would have crowded 
the Milwaukee, which was building parallel with them on 
the west side, into the foot hills, and thus the Milwaukee 
suddenly changed their survey and crossed at Osgood to 
the east, going by way of the town of High Lake (now 
abandoned), then on to Estherville. Another strategic 
position was the narrow isthmus between Spirit and East 
Okoboji Lakes, which is only wide enough for one right of 
way. Here again the Burlington stole a march by sending 
A. A. Wells, who lived near Osgood, up there to secure the 
right of way and when he had contracted for the right of 
way it effectually shut out the Milwaukee from that route, 
and they built no further than Estherville, while the Bur- 
lington continued on through. The rivalry between the 
two roads was very keen and as the trains started from 
Emmetsburg at the same time, and as the roads ran 
parallel to each other for four or five miles, there was a 
daily race between the two trains to reach the crossing. 
The train crews soon imbibed the spirit of bitter rivalry 
and it was a daily event for the crews to hurl anathemas 
at each other and fight for the right of way at the crossing. 
The Milwaukee road ran one of their engines squarely 
across the crossing and held it there, refusing to let the 
other road cross their trains until finally the engine was 
removed by a court injunction. But though the Burling- 
ton seemed to get the best of these stirring days of rivalry, 
this new road was barely able to keep going. One of their 
engines was attached in Minnesota for a coal bill. Times 
were hard and business poor. Several of the old settlers 
remember distinctly that for several years, especially dur- 



144 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

ing the summer time, the Burlington carried very little 
freight and it was a common sight for days in succession 
to see the engine and a caboose go by without a single 
freight car attached.^ Trains would wait for passengers 
and freight and even on the Milwaukee they have been 
known to leave cars of lumber, household goods, etc., on 
their main track between stations for the convenience of 
the consignee in unloading. But although the Milwaukee 
temporarily had the advantage of the freight and passen- 
ger traffic on account of their main line running east and 
west through Emmetsburg, for which the branch line made 
a good feeder, yet after the death of Mr. Merrill and when 
other parties came into control, the branch was neglected, 
the road bed grew up to weeds, the track poor, the trains 
more irregular, and often in the winter the trains would 
be stuck in the snowdrifts for days, or would not run at 
all for weeks at a time on account of the snow and severe 
weather. Finally a compromise was effected with the 
Burlington and the Milwaukee tracks were taken up, the 
branch abandoned in 1889 or 1890, and nothing now re- 
mains except the abandoned grade which may still be seen 
paralleling the present Rock Island track north to Osgood, 
the historic evidence of a great struggle in railroad build- 
ing. 

There are many other events that are well worthy of 
being chronicled, but the limits of this volume prevent 
their narration at this time. The files of the county papers, 
which have been preserved, give a regular history from 
week to week of these later years of development. 



1 Statements of J. A. Spies, Z. F. Dickinson, C. H. Giddings, and others. 



CHAPTEE XIV 

The Rise of the County Towns 

The building of the railroads through the county was an 
important factor in opening up new regions for settlement 
and increasing the accessibility of the lands. It is a pecu- 
liar fact that all the towns of the county except the old 
town of Emmetsburg were brought into existence along 
the line of the railroads. The railroad detennined the 
location and in fact made the towns possible. It was the 
railroad that gave rise to the numerous small towns 
throughout the county, and the history of these small 
towns must of necessity follow the lines of road and their 
construction. 

These towns have been an important factor in the devel- 
opment of the county and their history is an essential link 
in the historical chain. 

RUTHVEN 

The town of Ruthven was started the year the Milwau- 
kee railroad was built through the county, 1878. Ruthven 
Brothers, Robert and Alex, owned the land where the 
present town site is located and they gave one-half to the 
railroad company in return for locating the town plat 
there. The town was accordingly laid out and called 
Ruthven. While the construction gang was still grading 
the road, a small shanty was put up and used as a saloon. 
That sort of business seemed to be the first need of the 
rough workers, and migrated with them as their work pro- 
gressed. Thos. Miller was the first resident of the town, 
as he moved his camp shack to the town site while the road 
was being graded, and lived there and boarded some of the 



146 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

men. John McDonald built a small store there shortly 
after the railroad was completed through and put in a few 
groceries, overalls, jackets, etc. C. W. Hastings later 
bought McDonald out. Potter & Scovington were the next 
to put in a store. The building of the Des Moines & Fort 
Dodge Railroad through to Ruthven in 1882, and making 
that the northern terminus of the road gave an added im- 
petus to the growth of the town. Town lots then began to 
sell rapidly and for the next year or two the town boomed 
considerably. Stores were built, better houses were erect- 
ed, and the population grew rapidly. From then on the 
history of Ruthven is the history of a steadily growing 
town and it is not only the oldest of the small towns of the 
county, but it is the largest and has continued to prosper 
and thrive until now it stands well among the towns of its 
size in the state. 

WEST BEND 

The present site of the town of West Bend was first set- 
tled by Jeremiah Kelly of Ruthven and a young man 
named Jones. Mr. Kelly built the first frame house in 
the township on the east side of the river. A postoffice 
had been established at the Carter cabin on the south bank 
of the river where there was a sharp turn to the west. 
This gave the name West Bend to the township and when 
the B., C. R. & N. Ry. was built in the fall of 1881 the 
people of West Bend township voted a five per cent tax 
on condition that the company would locate a depot in the 
township. The railroad tried to get the tax and at the 
same time miss the township, but finally located a station 
just inside the township line and named it Ives after the 
president of the road. The people of the township wanted 
the name West Bend and A. B. Carter met Col. Dows, one 
of the main officials of the road, at Capt. Soper's office in 
Emmetsburg and asked him to change the name of the 
town to West Bend, which he finally consented to do. This 



THE RISE OF THE COUNTY TOWNS 147 

was before there was a single house built on the proposed 
town site. 

The building of the railroad brought with it the shanties 
of the construction gangs, and a shanty saloon, with a beer 
keg for a chimney, was hastily constructed east of the right 
of way. The first permanent building was a companion 
for the shanty and was built by Jack Gallegar as a saloon 
in order to accommodate the thirsty toilers on the con- 
struction work. This building was located where Mikes 
Bros.' meat market now stands and was completed in the 
year 1881, the same time the railroad was completed. 
James Evans put up a store building (the one now occu- 
pied by Geo. G. Schreiber) and bought a stock of groceries. 
Edward Bagley, in the late fall of '81, moved an old cheese 
factory from the Banwart settlement in Garfield township, 
Kossuth County, and set it up for a hardware store on the 
corner now occupied by Falb's blacksmith shop. James Til- 
ford and his brother built a little store and then H. H. Ja- 
cobs gave up the stage-line, built a store and put in a stock 
of groceries that cost him $855. That was considered quite 
a stock in those days. The next summer Mr. Jacobs put 
in drj^ goods, crockery, shoes, and other general mer- 
chandise. His first bill of shoes was $100 and dry goods, 
$150. He then had the most complete and largest store 
next to Emmetsburg. His store was only 20 x 40 and by 
the latter part of July it was so full of goods that he had to 
build on an addition. Wm. Amos about that time bought 
grain and live stock and later, in partnership with Gray 
as Amos & Gray, added lumber and coal. Later they also 
put in a store. Then James Johnson moved to town and 
was the first postmaster, the postoffice being moved in from 
the Carter cabin. Mr, Johnson built a building which 
was occupied by Benjamin Franklin as a drug store. 

In the spring of 1882 McFarland & McCormick bought 
out the Evans stock of goods and in the fall McFarland 



148 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

bought out McCormick and a little later absorbed the 
Amos store, founding the firm of McFarland & Son, which 
has since been running and is the pioneer firm of West 
Bend. Franklin Minger was the first blacksmith, and his 
son Elmore was the first child bom in the town. Elmore 
is still a resident of West Bend and is head clerk in the 
McFarland department store. L. E. Hampton had the 
first clothing store. Mark Gray built the first residence. 
J. C. Fehlhauer in 1882 built the West Bend House, the 
first regular hotel of the town, and Dan Kelly was the 
first landlord. 

The first school was conducted in the old Steiner build- 
ing in 1882 and the first sermon delivered in the town was 
preached by Rev. Brooks of Livermore. 

The first passenger train that came through West Bend 
on the railroad brought Dr. E. W. Bachman, who stepped 
off the train at West Bend and located there to practice 
medicine. Dr. Bachman was later county superintendent, 
state senator from this district, and still later moved to 
Estherville where he is now practicing. 

The period of 1882-3-4 was one of great activity in West 
Bend, and the town grew and prospered. It has grown 
steadily since that time and is now one of the thriving 
towns of Palo Alto County. 

RODMAN 

The B., C. R. & N. Ry. was graded and laid through 
Fern Valley township in 1881. Wm. Thompson had a 
postoffice at his farm on section 18 which was called Fern 
Valley. A man by the name of Rodman of Forest City, 
an old retired sailor, owned some land on the right of way 
in the township and he offered the railway company a half 
interest if they would plat a town on his land and call it 
'* Rodman." This was done and the station house was 
the only building except the temporary boarding shanties 
for some time. Wm. Thompson moved his postoffice from 



THE RISE OF THE COUNTY TOWNS 149 

his faiTH into town and changed the name to Rodman. 
He built a small building for the postoffice and also put 
in a small stock of goods. He would walk back and forth 
each day to his store from his farm. Soon after Wm. 
Sloan bought out this store and became postmaster. Thom- 
as Bates built the first house and boarded the section 
hands and worked on the railroad. Mart Fritz built a 
house and E. E. Shriner built a store in 1888. W. D. Fenn 
built the next house. There were several large hay barns 
put up about this time and the buying and shipping of hay 
became the leading business of the town. M. L. Fritz built 
a hotel and several other stores, blacksmith shop, and oth- 
er buildings were erected from time to time. After sev- 
eral attempts to have a creamery, the people of the town 
finally got together, borrowed the money from a bank at 
Emmetsburg, and the creamery was built in 1895. Later 
more hay barns and two elevators were built, and several 
more business ventures came to the little town, which 
continued to grow until now Rodman is a thriving village, 
which still has the distinction of being one of the principal 
hay shipping stations in the county. 

OSGOOD 

The memorable race between the B., C. R. & N. Ry. 
and C, M. & St. P. north from Emmetsburg to Spirit 
Lake, made history very rapidly in 1881. The Burling- 
ton, being slightly ahead, ran so close to the bluffs as to 
force the Milwaukee to cross to the east about six miles 
north of Emmetsburg. The enterprising farmers in the 
neghborhood were quick to see the advantage of a railroad 
crossing and bought part of the Jeriy Conway farm and do- 
nated it to the Burlington company on condition that they 
would put a station there. The company built that station 
and stock yards in 1881. The station was called Blair- 
gowrie after Blairgowrie farm to the eastward, but the 
people got up a petition to have the town named Osgood 



150 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

after the town of Osgood in Canada, the home of E. P. 
McEvoy, who owned the land where the town of Osgood 
was laid out. 

C. H. Giddings built a store there in 1882. He lived 
on his farm and would walk over to his business for some 
time after that. Later he built an addition to his store 
and moved to town. In 1890 the ice house for the cream- 
ery was built and the following year the creamery build- 
ing was erected. It ran just a month when it burned to 
the ground. It was rebuilt at once. Z. P. Dickinson, who 
had settled just north of where the town site is now lo- 
cated, came to the county in May, 1878, and was one of 
the prime movers in the many enterprises of the town. 
A. A. Wells was another prominent resident of that 
vicinity. 

C. H. Giddings was the first postmaster, as he received 
his commission in June, 1882. Other buildings, elevators, 
blacksmith shop, stores, and houses were erected from 
time to time and the town of Osgood has grown to be a 
good creamery, trading and shipping point. 

GRAETTINGER 

A well known physician of Milwaukee owned about 
2,000 acres of land in Walnut township where the railroad 
was surveyed, and he offered the railroad company a half 
interest in the northwest quarter of section 9, through 
which the right of way passed, if they would plat a town. 
The railroad ofiScials, desiring to be in on the ground floor, 
organized the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern 
Town Lot Co., which took the half interest in the town 
plat of the town of Graettinger. The railroad went 
through late in the year 1882. For several years there 
was notliing to the prospective town but the depot and a 
house on the hill occupied by August Reichle. In 1885, 
J. A. Spies and his father came to Graettinger and built 
a house there, and also put up farm buildings on their 



THE RISE OF THE COUNTY TOWNS 151 

farm in section 5. The town lot company became discour- 
aged about this time and Mr. Spies bought them out. 
H. N. Oshier was station agent at that time and asked 
Mr. Goodell, the division superintendent at Estherville, 
if he could put in a small stock of goods in the depot as 
they had to go clear to Emmetsburg for their supplies. 
Mr. Goodell replied that they were about to move the depot 
to Osgood and that it would not be worth while. This was 
the first intimation that they had that the enterprising 
people at Osgood were offering to move the depot down 
there free of charge. Fortunately for Graettinger the 
town lot deal was not fully closed and Mr. Spies notified 
the town lot company that they did not want the lots if the 
depot was moved. The prospect of this deal slipping 
through their fingers roused the officials to action, and the 
order to move the depot was rescinded, and Graettinger 
was saved by a narrow margin. In 1887 Geo. Zahm built 
the first store, but in the following year he sold out to H. 
N. Oshier, who still occupies the same store as the pioneer 
merchant of the town. Mr. Zahm soon after built another 
store further up the street, and handled general mer- 
chandise there until he later sold out to Preston Fahen- 
stock. This is the same store building that is now occu- 
pied by the Wildey store. Several other stores of various 
kinds were started during the next years. Mr. Zahm 
and Mr. Spies started the first lumber yard in 1890 and the 
following year Mr. Spies bought out his partner and built 
the first elevator. Henry Baum built the hotel the same 
year. Preston Fahenstock and his father built the cream- 
ery in 1892. The second elevator, the present Farmers' 
elevator, was put up by H. N. Oshier in 1895. In 1886 the 
people wanted a school on the Graettinger side of the 
river, and so a rough-board, sloping-shed-roof house was 
built. There was no floor and at times of rain the roof 
leaked so that the children had to huddle in one corner to 



152 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

avoid the dripping water. Miss Anna Mahan (Mrs. Anna 
Donohue) was the teacher, and rode horseback three miles 
every morning against the bleak northwest wind, to the 
school. The next year a floor was added, but no shingles 
on the roof. The present school house was constructed 
in 1898. Many other stores, houses and business places 
of all kinds have been added to Graettinger until at present 
it is a growing town and has the reputation of shipping 
more freight over the railroad than any other town of its 
size in Iowa. 

MALLARD 

When the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railway was sur- 
veying through the county, Ellington township voted a 
tax, but Rush Lake did not. Geo. Inman, who owned the 
eighty on the west side of the township line and in Rush 
Lake township, gave the railway company a half interest 
in return for the location of the town site on his land. 
This took the station out of Ellington and into Rush Lake, 
but the railway doubtless got the benefit of the tax just the 
same. Inman had promised the railway company to give 
them the part of his land east of the tracks, but there was 
a mortgage on it and the mortgagee took the property 
and this jirecipitated a long controversy with the railway 
which was finally compromised in some way. The track 
was laid as far north as Mallard in September, 1882. The 
railway station was the first building on the town plat, 
though Inman had a small house on his farm and Joseph 
Mihlfread had lived in a small shack in the neighborhood 
for several years. The town was named by Chas. E. 
Whitehead, president of the Des Moines & Fort Dodge 
Railway, who was a great hunter and used to hunt out 
through this county for several years before the railway 
was built. He had a good sense of humor and after nam- 
ing "Plover," the station to the south, called this new 
station ''Mallard" because of the great quantities of 



THE RISE OF THE COUNTY TOWNS 153 

ducks that inhabited the sloughs and ponds. The railway- 
had hardly been completed before Hackenburg built a 
store and opened up a stock of general merchandise. He 
was followed in the same year (1882) by Bill Stafford's 
general store. John Mertis built the first residence in 
town. In the spring of 1883 C. H. Sands started a grain, 
coal, and lumber business and Orie Kendall built a hotel. 
Mr. Hackenburg was the first postmaster of the town. At 
first the regular church and Sunday School services were 
held in the waiting room of the depot, as that was the 
largest available room. Chas. Ziegler started the first 
hardware store in the fall of 1883 and several other busi- 
nesses started and from that time on the growth of the 
town was rapid and has continued until Mallard is today 
a prosperous business town. 

CURLEW 

The town of Curlew was another station established in 
1882 on the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railway. It was 
named Curlew by President Whitehead of the railway 
company in honor of the numerous curlew birds found in 
the neighborhood and in keeping with his policy of nam- 
ing the towns as an enthusiastic hunter. S. A. Easton 
built a hotel near the railway right of way, some distance 
from other towns, and drew trade for some time from the 
county round about before the company put in a station. 
Mr. Easton was a genial landlord and his house did a 
good business. In 1888 Melvin Fisk purchased the hotel 
from Easton, and later built a livery and feed barn and 
still later a grain elevator. He soon branched out and 
sold coal and bought and sold stock. From this begin- 
ning the town grew steadily and Mr. Fisk has continued 
and is today its chief promoter and business man. Cer- 
lew is a lively little town and holds its own among the 
towns of Palo Alto County in an educational as well as a 
business way. 



154 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

AYRSHIKB 

The Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railway Company bnilt 
through to Ayrshire in October, 1882. P. 'Grady was 
the foreman of the construction gang from Tara to Ruth- 
ven and January 1, 1883, dropped off at Ayrshire as sta- 
tion agent, and held that position for eighteen years. 
Patrick Claer had bought a relinquishment of some land 
in Silver Lake township in 1873 and moved there with his 
two boys, Tom and P. J., and one daughter, and lived there 
until 1882, when he sold eighty acres to the railroad com- 
pany for a town site. The depot was built in November, 
1882. P. H. Owens built the first store that fall and 
Schoonmaker & Hall built a general store at about the 
same time. The next summer Geo. Pendelburg opened a 
hardware store and then built the first residence on the 
town lots. Ed Brown started a lumber yard and Joel 
Campbell opened up a coal business. H. Emrich also went 
into the hay business and sold coal and other supplies. 
As Mr. 'Grady, the station agent, also bought coal and 
grain on the side, there was plenty of competition along 
this line. From this time on Ayrshire grew rapidly and 
was soon a thriving village that was a great convenience 
to the surrounding territory, and it has continued to grow 
until today it stands well to the front among the towns of 
Palo Alto County. 

CYLINDER 

Cylinder started with a large hay barn built by Brown 
& Sons in 1885 and the railroad company then put in a 
siding in order to enable them to load hay. The Browns 
also built a house the same year and in 1889 John Geoders 
built a store. The following year the railroad company 
built a depot, and the station was named Cylinder after the 
famous Cylinder Creek that flows near the town site. It is 
said that the creek got its name from an attempt of some 
early settlers to cross the stream at high water with an 



THE RISE OP THE COUNTY TOWNS 155 

engine, but the feat was too difficult and the heavy macliine 
sank into the mud and the cylinder became detached and 
lost in the creek and was never found. This may be only 
a legend, but it is certain that the stream which has long 
been known by that name gave the name to the town locat- 
ed not far from its banks. John Geoders was the first 
postmaster. In 1890 Chas. Terwilliger built another store 
and the farmers built the creamery. The following year 
the farmers joined together and put up a blacksmith shop 
and house for the blacksmith and John Ganzley took 
charge and worked out the price of the building in work 
for the stockholders until it was fully paid for. Kelly 
Bros, put in another store in 1892 and the hotel and livery 
bam was erected by E. E. Hughes the following year. 
Others built stores and houses and the town grew rapidly 
until 1901, when it was incorporated, Geo. Wells being the 
first mayor and M. N. Oleson the first and only marshal. 
Cylinder is in the center of a rich and prosperous farming 
community and is a good trading station and prosperous 
little town. 



CHAPTER XV 

Our Modern County 

Over fifty years have elapsed since the first permanent 
foundations were made in Palo Alto County. Many of 
the pioneers who played a part in the scenes enacted in 
those early days are still living among us to bear witness 
to the marvelous changes time has wrought. 

From a total of only 216 at the close of the Civil War, 
the population of the county has increased by leaps and 
bounds until now we have nearly 15,000 people within its 
boundaries. This increase in population is typical of the 
development of the land. From a wild, undeveloped prai- 
rie country, with only a few scattered settlers located along 
the timbered streams, the land has been all taken up and 
has doubled in value many times until the state census of 
1905 shows that Palo Alto County has 1,557 farms contain- 
ing 312,040 acres, with an actual value of $15,030,201. 
Land is steadily advancing in price, and by means of scien- 
tific drainage and better farming methods, even the one- 
time waste land is now being made to yield nature's abund- 
ance. 

In prosperity and material wealth Palo Alto County 
stands well to the front. There are fifteen banks in the 
county, all prosperous and steadily growing. The com- 
bined capital stock and surplus amount to over $466,000 
and the total deposits amount to $2,130,074.93, as shown 
by the last statements. In volume of trade and business, 
Palo Alto ranks as one of the live and up-to-date communi- 
ties of Northwest Iowa. 

The 1905 state census shows that during the previous 



OUR MODERN COUNTY 157 

year Palo Alto County raised 2,185,245 bushels of corn, 
valued at $625,543; 1,979,540 bushels of oats, valued at 
$504,006 ; and produced over 80,000 tons of clover, timothy 
and wild hay, valued at over $170,000, besides over 30,000 
bushels of other crops not listed. The same census shows 
that Palo Alto County had 35,790 cattle, valued at $625,- 
608; 40,451 swine, valued at $191,161; and 10,609 horses 
and mules, valued at $628,792 ; 182,940 fowls, valued at 
$64,373 ; 709,380 dozen eggs, valued at $94,658 ; and dairy 
products valued at $311,170. All these figures for stock 
and crops would be largely increased for the subsequent 
years. Surely this is a splendid record for a county that 
has only just begun to develop its resources. 

In social betterment, Palo Alto takes a high place. A 
thorough and complete system of rural schools makes a 
practical education accessible to every country child, while 
excellent graded, parochial and high schools place the best 
advantages of a common school education before the am- 
bitious youth of today. 

There are twenty-eight flourishing churches in the coun- 
ty, and the large and influential membership speaks well 
for the Christian influences that are such a strong factor 
in the highest tj'^^e of civilization. 

In the cities and towns we find substantial business 
blocks and handsome, convenient houses. The farmers are 
building better homes, fitted with every convenience, and 
the life on the farm is becoming every day less of a dinidg- 
ery and more of a pleasure. Rural mail routes practically 
cover the whole county, while 612 miles of rural and 
through telephone lines within the county, together with 
eight live, up-to-date newspapers, make the dissemination 
of knowledge and ease of communication an accepted fact. 
Every town in the county has railroad connections, there 
being over 74 miles of railroads crossing the county. 

Emmetsburg, the county seat of the county, is a modem 



158 HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 

city in every respect, having electric lights, modern city 
water and fire protection, sewerage system, public library, 
fine modern opera house, good hotels and public buildings, 
excellent accredited schools, and strong, flourishing 
churches. Many of the other towns of the county have 
their own lighting plants and water systems and other 
conveniences unheard of in a small town a few years ago. 
Yet with all the progress the town and city debts are low 
and taxes small. The county itself is in exceptionally good 
financial condition, as it is out of debt, has only $8,000 
bridge bonds, no overdue obligations, and owns property 
valued at $61,000 that is rapidly appreciating in value. 

Surely the seeds sown by the courageous and far-seeing 
pioneers have borne abundant fruit. Palo Alto County 
stands today as one of the attractive counties of the great 
state of Iowa. It offers the advantages of a wholesome, 
up-to-date community, a place for a home, a place in which 
to live in happiness and contentment — life in the best and 
truest sense of the word. Our modern county stands today 
a worthy monument to the pioneers who with patient in- 
dustry and wise foresight built such broad and true found- 
ations. 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX A 

COUNTY OFFICEKS 

1S58 — (First couuty officers elected at a special election, December 20, 
1858). James Hickey, county judge; John Mulroney, treasurer and recorder; 
John Shea, drainage commissioner; James MeCosker, county surveyor; Orrin 
Sylvester, coroner; Thos. H. Tobin, sheriff; Felix MeCosker, clerk. 

1859 — (Election October 11th.) James Hickey, county judge; John 
Mulroney, treasurer and recorder; Thomas McCormick, clerk; James Mc- 
Cormick, sheriff; E. F. Carter, coroner; Joseph T. Mulroney, drainage 
commissioner; John L. Davis, surveyor. 

1860 — (Election November 6th.) Lott Laughliu, clerk of district court; 
John Mulroney, treasurer and recorder; James Nolan, surveyor; Martin 
Coonan, sheriff; John Nolan, justice of the peace; Michael Graham, con- 
stable. 

1861 — Thomas McCormick, couuty judge; John Pendergast, clerk; J. 
M. Mulroney, treasurer and recorder; Jeremiah Crowley, drainage com- 
missioner; John McCormick, county superintendent; James Neary, county 
supervisor; Patrick Lynch, sheriff; John McCormick, coroner; Thos. Camp- 
bell, justice of the peace; Thos. Laughlin, constable.^ 

1863 — J. M. Mulroney, treasurer and recorder; Thos. Campbell, sheriff; 
Patrick Mulroney, county judge; Wm. Carter, county superintendent; John 
McCormick, coroner; Hiram Hall, drainage commissioner; Jolin Nolan, 
county supervisor Emmetsburg township; Wm. E. Cullen, clerk. 

1864 — James Hickey, clerk; John Mulroney, recorder; Daniel Ream, 
superintendent. 

1S65 — Patrick Mulroney, county judge; James P. White, treasurer; Pat- 
rick Nolan, sheriff; James P. White, surveyor; James H. Underwood, 
sujierintendent and coroner; James Hickey, clerk. 

1866 — J. H. Underwood, clerk; A. B. Carter, recorder. 

1867 — Jas. P. White, treasurer; John McCormick, sheriff; D. W. Spauld- 
ing, superintendent; John M. Hefley, county judge. 

1868 — W. D. Powers, recorder; G. S. Anderson, surveyor. 

1869— James P White, treasurer; J. M. Hefley, sheriff; J. L. Martin, 
superintendent; M. Coonan, surveyor. 

1870 — Wm. E. Cullen, recorder; Eobert Shea, clerk. 

1871 — W. H. H. Booth, auditor; M. L. Brown, treasurer; M. D. Daniels, 
sheriff; T. W. Harrison, surveyor; John J, Robins, superintendent. 

1872 — J. L. Martin, recorder; Robert Shea, clerk. 

1 A contested election between John M. Mulroney and .Tohn and James Nolan a«<J 
Thos. McCormick. 



162 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



1873 — W. H. Shea, auditor; M. L. Brown, treasurer; P. C. '. 
sheriff; A. L. Day, superintendent; J. L. Lang, surveyor. 

1874 — J. L. Martin, recorder; T. J. Prouty, clerk. (Geo. B. M( 
was elected district attorney for four years.) 

1875 — Benjamin Franklin, auditor; M. L. Brown, treasurer; J. E. 
sheriff; J. C. Bennett, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1876 — M. F. Coonan, recorder; T. J. Prouty, clerk. 

1877 — John J. Robins, auditor; Robert Shea, treasurer; J. E. 
sheriff"; A. S. McGrorty, Jr., superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1878 — Thomas Walsh, recorder; T. J. Prouty, clerk. 

1879 — John J. Robins, auditor; Robert Shea, treasurer; Henry P 
superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor; T. McDonnell, sheriff. 

1880 — Thomas Walsh, recorder; Wm. E. Cullen, clerk. 

1881 — W. H. H. Booth, auditor; Robert Shea, treasurer; H. A. 
superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor; T. McDonnell, sheriff. 

1882 — Thomas Walsh, recorder; D. W. Burlingame, clerk. 

1883 — W. H. H. Booth, auditor; Robert Shea, treasurer; P. V. 
sheriff; E. W. Bachman, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1884 — Thomas Walsh, recorder; J. E. King, clerk. 

1885 — W. H. H. Booth, auditor; E. J. Hartshorn, treasurer; 
Jacobs, sheriff; B. E. Kelly, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor 

1886— Wm. G. Henry, recorder; J. E. King, clerk; Thomas O'C 
county attorney (first county attorney and only Democrat ever elec 
the office in Palo Alto County). 

1887 — P. V. Nolan, auditor; E. J. Hartshorn, treasurer; H. H. J 
sheriff; P. H. Donlon, superintendent; John Moncrief, surveyor. 

1888 — Lewis Stuehmer, recorder; David Grier, clerk; Thomas O'C 
attorney. 

1889— P. V. Nolan, auditor; E. P. McEvoy, treasurer; H. H. J 
sheriff; P. H. Donlon, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1890 — ^Lewis Stuehmer, recorder; C. E. Clark, clerk; B. E. Kel 
torney. 

1891 — John Moncrief, auditor; E. P. McEvoy, treasurer; H. H. J 
sheriff; P. H. Donlon, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1892 — Lewis Stuehmer, recorder; C. E. Clark, clerk; Thomas O'C 
attorney. 

1893 — C. W. Hodgkinson, auditor; A. J. Armstrong, treasurer; Jc 
Hanson, sheriff ; Bessie Larson, superintendent ; Le Roy Grout, survf 

1894 — L. A. Martin, recorder; E. J. Hartshorn, clerk; John M 
attorney. 

1895 — C. W. Hodgkinson, auditor; A. J. Armstrong, treasurer; Jc 
Hanson, sheriff; Bessie Larson, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surv( 

1896 — L. A. Martin, recorder; E. J. Hartshorn, clerk; John M 
attorney. 

1897 — P. V. Hand, auditor; J. B. Lamb, treasurer; Wesley Da^ 
sheriff; Anna Donovan, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 



APPENDICES 163 

1898 — Geo. Kinnie, recorder; H. M. Helgen, clerk; E. A. Morling, at- 
torney. 

1899 — J. B. Lamb, treasurer; Wesley Davidson, sheriff; Anna Donovan, 
superintendent; Le Eoy Grout, surveyor. 

1900 — P. V, Hand, auditor; Geo. Kinnie, recorder; H. M. Helgen, clerk; 
E. A. Morling, attorney. 

1901 — S. P. Crisman, treasurer; Alex Cullen, sheriff; Anna Donovan, 
superintendent ; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1902 — Thos. R. Martin, auditor; F. H. Wells, recorder; D. A. Johnson, 
clerk; F. C. Davidson, attorney. 

1903 — S. P. Crisman, treasurer; Wm. Coakley, sheriff; Anna Odland, 
superintendent ; Le Roy Grout, surveyor. 

1904 — Thos. R. Martin, auditor; F. H. Wells, recorder; D. A. Johnson, 
clerk; F. C. Davidson, attorney. 

1906 — Sim R. Stedman, auditor; E. G. Kelley, treasurer; E. M. Carney, 
clerk; Wm. Coakley, sheriff; Pearle Richardson, recorder; J. E. Williams, 
attorney; Lille Patton, superintendent; Le Roy Grout, surveyor; J. L. Van 
Gorden, coroner; B. J. Bergeson, representative. 

1908 — Sim R. Stedman, auditor; E. G. Kelly, treasurer; E. M. Carney, 
clerk; Alex Cullen, sheriff; Pearle Richardson, recorder; J. E. Williams, 
attorney ; Lille Patton, superintendent ; Guy Campbell, surveyor ; J. L. Van 
Gorden, coroner; F. C. Davidson, representative. 



APPENDIX B 

ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF PAOLI 
COUET HOUSE MATTER 

The County of Palo Alto \ In the District Court of 
vs. \ the County of Palo 

John M. Stockdale et al. \ Alto. 

To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Palo Alto County, Iowa: — 

At the June term of the District Court of Palo Alto Co., in 1866, a 
3adgment was rendered and entered upon the Judgment Docket now in the 
office of the clerk of the District Court of said County, against John M. 
Stockdale and others, defendants, in the above entitled cause, and in favor 
of Palo Alto Co., Plff., for the sum of (.$9750.00), Nine Thousand Seven 
Hundred and Fifty Dollars and cost of suit. 

I desire to purchase said judgment from your said County and will pay 
for the same as follows, to wit : 

1st. — I will deed or cause to be deeded to your said county one square 
of land containing three acres more or less in the town of Paoli in your 
said county, embracing the ground on which the Court House no^v stands, 
for the site of a Court House to be erected. 

2nd. — Deed or cause to be deeded to your said county this day one 
square or tract of land in the town known as Paoli, containing three acres, 
more or less, for the purpose of a poorhouse site or other purpose of said 
county. 

3rd. — I will erect or cause to be erected in the county seat of said 
county, upon the land first above named, one court house or public building for 
said county, according to the plan and conditions of a contract herewitli sub- 
mitted and will execute a bond with approved security for the faithful 
performance of said contract. 

4th. — I will release or cause to be released the county of Palo Alto 
from all or any claim which I have or may have against the said county 
for damages on account of land deeded to me by the said county which 
has been conveyed to other parties by the U. S. Government, provided that 
I still retain all rights of indemnity which may accrue to me from the 
state of Iowa, or the U. S. 

5th. — I agree to discontinue or cause to be discontinued the application 
or suit now on file in the office of the clerk of the District Court of your said 
county in relation to the above judgment, and to pay all costs which may 
accrue or may have been incurred in the prosecution of said suit or appli- 



APPENDICES 165 

cation for a new trial in said above cited cause. The acceptance of the 
above proposition by your Board shall be a final and conclusive contract and 
agreement without further action on my part. Witness my hand this 14th 
day of August, A. D. 1866. (Signed) John M. Stockdale. 

Besolved by the Board of Supervisors after full conference, investiga- 
tion and reflection that the interests of the county will be promoted and 
litigation and expense avoided as well as a substantial benefit realized 
from a doubtful claim by the sale of the above named judgment of Nine 
Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars, in favor of Palo Alto and 
against John M. Stockdale and others, and upon the terms and conditions 
above offered, and we the said Board of Suj)ervisors, do hereby sell, trans- 
fer and assign for good and valuable consideration the receipt of which 
is hereby acknowledged, to the said John M. Stockdale, his heirs and as- 
signs, all right, title and interest of said County of Palo Alto in and to 
the said judgment or any and every part thereof and authorize him or his 
assignee to collect said judgment and to assume and have the benefit of 
all right and legal means for the collection of said judgment or any part 
thereof which could have been resorted to by Palo Alto Co. And the said 
defendant both principal and securities, to wit, John M. Stockdale, Wm. P. 
Logan, Wm. N. Meservey, H. Butterworth, and A. Taylor, are hereby re- 
leased from the payment of said judgment or any part thereof to said PlfF., 
Palo Alto County, and they and each of them the said defendants are hereby 
authorized and required to pay said judgment to the said John M. Stock- 
dale or his assignee which shall be a full and complete i»ayment, and the 
Clerk of the District Court of the said County of Palo Alto (he being the 
clerk of the Board) is hereby authorized and directed to make the follow- 
ing entry upon the Judgment Docket in the above entitled cause and im- 
mediately contiguous to said judgment, to-wit: 

The above or foregoing judgment is hereby for good and valuable con- 
sideration sold, transferred and assigned to John M. Stockdale and to his 
assigns, August 14th, 1866. See order of Board of Supervisors and sign 
his name thereto as clerk. Witness our hands this 14th day of August, 
1866. (Signed) Joseph T. Mulroney, 

John Nolan, 

Supervisors. 

I hereby certify that James H. Underwood, C. M., was entirely opposed 
nnd voted against the proceedings of this meeting. 

James Hickey, Clerk. i 



1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo .Mto County, i, pp. 86-88, county auditor's 
office. 



APPENDIX C 

The followiug is a copy of a resolution adopted by the board of super- 
visors of Palo Alto County and forwarded to Eepresentative E. J. Harts- 
horn, Wednesday, February 4, 1874: 
To the General Assembly of the State of Iowa: — 

Your petitioners, the Board of Supervisors of Palo Alto County, Iowa, 
would respectfully represent to your honorable body that owing to the 
extremely wet weather and destruction by grasshoppers, a great number of 
the citizens of this county are in destitute circumstances and are unable to 
procure food, clothing or seed to sow for the coming season. Your peti- 
tioners would further represent that they are without means or authority 
by law and are wholly unable to provide adequate relief for such a wide- 
spread calamity and that unless aid is procured in some manner, the pros- 
perity and well being of this portion of the state will be materially af- 
fected and its development greatly retarded. Therefore your petitioners 
would humbly ask your honorable body to make an appropriation of 
$5000.00 for the benefit of the destitute in this county, and to make such 
enactments as shall enable the Board of Supervisors to distribute the same 
as shall seem just and proper and for the best interests of the county or 
that you will furnish relief in such other manner or under such other regu- 
lations as may seem proper, for the relief of this county, and in further- 
ance of the future prosperity thereof and to the honor and well being of 
the whole state. Alexander Gownie, Chmn. 

Attest: W. H. H. Booth, Auditor.i 



1 Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, no. 1, p. 347. 



APPENDIX D 

Abstract of election returns Palo Alto County election, October 13, 
1874: For district attorney, Geo. B. McCarty 308; M. Wakefield 175. For 
the herd law 320, against 76.i 

The Election Eegister no. 1, p. 222, in the oifice of the auditor of Palo 
Alto County shows that the proposition of restraining stock carried, the 
official vote being 335 for and 148 against. 

Advertisement by McCarty & Hartshorn, * ' Iowa Land Office. Several thou- 
sand acres of choice land for sale at $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. ' ' 2 

Report of Teachers' Institute Friday and Saturday, September 11 and 
12, 1874.3 

' ' Fitzgerald 's store is on wheels and en route to the new town. ' ' * 

" The Lake Shore House is being thoroughly re-fitted and enlarged and 
will be opened in about ten days. ' ' s 

" Grand Ball at Roper's Hall on the 29th. Free carriages to and from 
the Valley House. ' ' s 

' ' P. Joyce is waiting anxiously for his store building, which is out run- 
ning a race with that of Jas. PHtzgerald from the old town to the new. At 
present Fitz is a few yards ahead. ' ' 7 



1 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


2 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


3 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


4 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


5 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 


7 Palo 


Alto 


Pilot, 


vol. i 



no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 20, Thursday, October 22, 1874. 

no. 21, October 29, 1874. 



APPENDIX E 

' ' Prospectus of Palo Alto Democrat 

' ' On or before the first of November, 1869, the undersigned will issue at 
Soda Bar, Palo Alto County, Iowa, an Independent Democratic Newspaper 
bearing the above title. 

' ' The Democrat will be a faithful and impartial expositor of the natural 
advantages, resources and progress of the county in which it is published, and 
an advocate of the social, social political and financial interests of North- 
western Iowa. 

' ' Bound by no clique and controlled by no faction, the Democrat will 
assume that conservative, yet progressive, stand on the political questions 
of the day, calculated to redeem our country from the thraldom, oppression 
and misrule which the unlimited power of the Eepublican party has wielded 
in the interests of the few at the expense of the many. In short its watch- 
word will be Retrenchment and Reform, and will labor with unswerving fidel- 
ity for the restoration of principles and the inauguration of measures cal- 
culated to secure to all classes of our people those rights and privileges which 
the spirit of our free institutions inspire and national dignity and our common 
manhood demands. 

"James P. White, 
' ' Editor and Publisher. ' ' 
Terms of sub. were 2.00 per year 
1.00 six mos. 1 



1 The original of this Prospectxis is owned b.v Tom White, Whittemove, Iowa. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Acker, John, 96 

Acker, Hud., 96 

Acknowledgement for help in writ 
ing this history, 9 

Acres, William R., 98 

Adamson, P. C, 99 

Advance, Palo Alto, published in 
1870, 90; printed at Humboldt or 
Algona, 91; description of, 93, 94; 
published in old town, 119 

Advance, Palo Alto, 93, description 
of, 93, 94; published in old town, 
119 

Agricultural Society, organized, 140 

Aldrich, Charles, remembers frac- 
tured Indian skull, 29; letter from, 
quoted, 66 note 

Allan, C. T., buys threshing machine, 
91, 102 

Allen, H. T., 102 

Algona, 29; mail service from, 54; 
volunteers for northern brigade, 
76 ; railroad ended, trading point, 
90; freight line, 90; Palo Alto 
Democrat published at, 90 ; stage 
line through, 101; teaming to, 
103; railroad to, 117; base of sup- 
plies for Emmetsburg, 117; rail- 
road builds Westward, 123 ; rail- 
road terminus at, 141, 142 

Algona, Upper Bes Moines Republi- 
can, cited, 14 note; cited 55 note; 
cited 60 note 

Amos, William, 147 

Amos & Gray, 147 

American character, developed on the 
frontier, 10 

American Historical Association, an- 
nual report 1893 ; cited 10 note 



Anderson, Peter, 99, 100 

Anderson, G. S., elected Surveyor, 
1868, Appendix A 

Andrews, L. F., article in Des 
Moines Register & Leader, cited, 
29 note 

Annals of Iowa, cited, 12 note; cited 
31 note; cited 34 note; cited 36 
note; cited, 39 nite; cited, 41 note 

Antelope, often seen by settlers, 24 

Anthony, John A., settled near Lost 
Island Lake, 100; kept Lost Island 
post-office, 100; headquarters for 
stage line, 101 

Appelby, George, 120 

Armstrong, A. J., elected treasurer, 
1893, Appendix A; elected treas- 
urer, 1895, Appendix A 

Aristotle, 62 

Ashley, Levi, came to county, 85 

Ayrshire, founding of town of, 154; 
history of, 97, 154 

Ayrshire Chronicle, cited 97 note 

Bachman, Dr. E. W., 148; elected 

superintendent, 1883, Appendix A 
Badger Creek, 45 
Badgrow, G. R., 113 
Bagley, Edward, 147 
Baker, David G., came to county, 

102; Diary of Experiences, 102 
Baker, J. C, 102; first president 

county fair, 140 
Ballard, S. W., came to county, 96; 

portrait, 88 
Ballard, Charles, driving stage, 89 
Banwart, settlement, 147 
Bancroft, 29 
Barnard, R. T., 96 



172 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Bargstrom, Lars, 101 

Barker, M. W., came to county, 96 

Barringer, Cleyborn, 101 

Barringer, Emmet, 101 

Barringer, Lyman, 101 

Barnum, L. C, 102 

Bart, J., came to county, 96 

Bassett, Miss, instructor in Insti- 
tute, 138 

Bates, Thomas, 149 

Bates & Hagedon, start Palo Alto 
Patriot, 119; dissolution of the 
firm of, 119 note 

Baum, Henry, 151 

"Black Friday," 137 

Blackford, John E., representative, 
71 

Blair, Miss Maria, acts as deputy 
county superintendent, 138 ; mar- 
ries George B. McCarty, 138 note 

Blairgowrie, 149 

Blizzard, described, 102 

Beach, George H., 98 

Bearss, N. D., builds first building 
in old town, 108; description of 
building, 108, 109, 113 

Beck, A. P., 98 

Beck, Douglas, 98 

Benton county, Iowa, 15; Mrs. Car- 
ter and Ben come from, 17 

Bennett, J. C, worked on Pilot, 119; 
describes Pilot office, 120; state- 
ment of, cited, 120 note; state- 
ment of cited, 127; elected super- 
intendent, 138; Appendix A 

Bergeson, B. J., elected representa- 
tive from Palo Alto County, 1906, 
Appendix A 

Bickle, John P.. came to county, 83; 
Bickle and Jacobs put up hay, 82 

Big Island Lake, signs of Indians 
at, 35 

Board of Supervisors, settlement of 
Court House difficulty of, by, Ap- 



pendix B; issuing depreciated 
warrants, 93 

Boardman, H. R., 102 

Boddy, John, came to county, 97 

Boone, Carter hauls lumber from, 56 

Booth, H. T., came to county, 96 

Booth, William H. H., auditor, office 
of, 92; came to county, 96; elect- 
ed auditor, 1871, Appendix A; 
elected auditor, 1881, Appendix 
A; elected auditor, 1883, Appendix 
A; elected auditor, 1885, Appendix 
A 

Border plain, steam saw mill brought 
from, 85 

Border Brigade, description of, ac- 
tivities of, 76, 77, 78, 79; article 
on, by Captain Ingham, cited, 76 
note, 77 note, 79 note; recollec- 
tions of, participants in, cited, 
76 note 

Bradgate, stage route to, 88 

Bradley, B., 102 

Bridge, early specifications of, 69, 
70 

Briezee, trials with expedition in 
crossing Cylinder creek, 39, 40 

Brown, Ed, 154 

Brown, George, came to county, 95, 
96 

Brown, M. L., came to old town, 
115; candidate for county treas- 
urer, 94; treasurer, office of, 92; 
statement of, cited, 127; first 
mayor of Emmetsburg, 133; dele- 
gate to convention, 140; elected 
treasurer, 1871, Appendix A; 
elected treasurer, 1873, Appendix 
A; elected treasurer, 1875, Ap- 
pendix A; portrait, 120 

Brown, P, S., came to old town, 115 

Brown, W. J., comes to old town, 
115; portrait, 120 

Brown & Sons, 154 



INDEX 



17:3 



Brennan, James, came to county, So, 
98 

Brennan, John, 101 

Brooks, Eev. of Livermore, 148 

Brigade, northern border, descrip- 
tion of, activities of, 76, 77, 78, 
79; article on, by Captain Ingham, 
cited, 76 note, 77 note, 79 note; 
recollections of, participants in, 
cited, 76 note 

Buchacher, William, came to county, 
96 

Buena Vista County, 117, 140 

Buffalo, seen by early settlers, 24 

Burkholder, Captain, perishes from 
cold, 36, 41, bones found years 
after, 36 

Bulls Ferry, 45 

Burlingame, D. W., elected clerk. 
1882, Appendix A 

Burlington, Cedar Eapids & North- 
ern Ey., terminus of, 141; builds 
through Palo Alto county, 142 ; 
fight with Milwaukee, 142; race in 
construction of roads, 133, 142, 
143, 144, 149; builds to West 
Bend, 146; built to Eodman, 148; 
builds to Osgood, 149; builds to 
Graettinger, 149 

Burlington, first settlement of, 12 

Burnell, H. L., arrives in old town, 
115; forms partnership with Har- 
rison, 115; political canvass, 94 

Burnham, Ormsby & Company, bank 
of, established, 119 

Burns, Lawrence, came to county, 
84, 121 

Burns bridge, 48 

Bursell, Frank, 96 

Butler, U.. 102 

Cabins, of first settlers, 23 
Cahill, Thomas, settled in county, 48 
Cahill, county seat speculator, 58 
Call, Ambrose A., pioneer cabin of. 



14; historical sketches by. 14 note; 
sketch of early history, in "His- 
tory of Kossuth County, ' ' cited, 
29 note; early days in the west 
fork, cited, 50 note, 55 note. 60 
note, 61 note 
Call, Asa C, pioneer cabin of. 14 
Call's Addition, 107; houses at, 120 
Cammiek, W. H., came to county, 96 
Campbell, Thomas, settled in county, 
44 ; putting up hay with Jacobs, 81, 
82; elected justice of the peace, 
1861, Appendix A; electel sheriff, 
1863, Appendix A 
Campbell, Joel, 154 
Campbell, Guy, elected surveyor, 

1908, Appendix A 
Caner, W. H., 110 
Carpenter, Cyrus C, joins relief ex- 
pedition, 34; county seat commis- 
sioner, 60; referred to, 66 note; 
county seat commissioner, 67 
Carpenter, J. M., 101 
Carney, Eobert, Sr., came to county, 

83, 84 
Carney, W. T., came to county, 84 
Carney, Eobert, Jr., came to county, 

84 
Carney, John, came to county, 84 
Carney, E. M., elected clerk, 1906, 
Appendix A; elected clerk, 1908, 
Appendix A 
Carroll, Dennis, came to county, 84 
Carroll, Patrick, came to county, 84 
Carter, A. B., interview with, and 
letter from, 15 note; still owns 
old homestead, 16 note; comes to 
county, 17; tells experiences, 17, 
18, 19 ; interview and letter of, 
19 note, 20; statement that Sleepy 
Eye camped at Crowley 's, 32 note ; 
statement of cited, 44 note; state- 
ment of, cited 53 note; statement 
of, 56 note cited; school director 
of West Bend, 56 note; facts as 



174 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



to first election given by, 64 note; 
appointed sheriff, 72 ; first volun- 
teer to Civil War, 75; service of, 
in war, 75; letter from cited, 75 
note; secures name of West Bend, 
146 ; elected recorder, 1866, Ap- 
pendix A; portrait, 17 

Carter, Ann, 44 

Carter, Elizabeth, 44 

Carter, Mrs., comes to the county, 
17 

Carter, E. Fayette, first settled in 
Palo Alto county, 15; successful 
vote for coroner, 71; joins north- 
ern border brigade, 77 ; second ser- 
geant, 77; elected coroner, 1859, 
Appendix A 

Carter, William, settled at West 
Bend, 15; brings rest of family, 
17, 20, 42, 43; daughters of, 44; 
services at cabin of, 56 ; hauls lum- 
ber for school house, 56 ; voting at 
cabin of, 64; postmaster at, re- 
ferred to, 81; elected county sup- 
erintendent, 1863, Appendix A 

Carter & Evans, location chosen by, 
15, 16; first experiences of, 17; re- 
ferred to, 42 

Cates, T. J., 98 

Catholic Church, first services, 56 ; 
first church in old town, 117; de- 
stroyed by fire, 117; rebuilt, 117; 
growth of, 117, 118 

Cavanaugh, county seat speculator, 
58 

Cedar Eapids, chronological history 
of, cited, 53 note 

Cedar Eapids 'Republican, cited, 53 
note 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & North- 
western Town Lot Co., 150 

Census of Palo Alto county, 1863, 
1873, 81 

Cherokee County, 140 

Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul R. R.. 



131, 133; fight for land grant, 
141, 142; builds through county, 
142; builds branch north from 
Emmetsburg, 142 ; construction 
race with Burlington, 142, 143, 
144; construction race through 
Osgood, 149 

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 
133; construction race with Mil- 
waukee, 142, 143, 144, 149 

Christensen, L. C, 99 

Churches, of modern Palo Alto coun- 
ty, 157 

Circus, first in county, 90 

Civil War, issues of, 74; Pair, Alto 
county, in, 74, 75 ; substitutes from 
Palo Alto county, 75, 76; delays 
western settlement, 80 ; conces- 
sions to soldiers of, 80 

Claer, Patrick, 154 

Claer, P. J., 154 

Claer, Tom, 154 

Clark, 110 

Clark, C. E., elected clerk, 1890, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1892, Ap- 
pendix A 

Clarke, George L., 98 

Clark, Malachi, cabin entered by In- 
dians, 29 

Clark, William E., makes contract to 
build Paoli court house and school 
house, 68; contract for court 
house, 86; difficulties over swamp 
lands, 139 

Clemens, James, came to county. 96 

Clermont, Iowa, 118 note 

Coakley. William, elected sheriff, 
1903, Appendix A 
1906, Appendix A 

Colburn, L. B , 97 

Collins, T. D., 97 

Collins, John, 97 

Collins, Dan, 97 

Comer, F., came to county, 96 

Compromise, in the Civil War, 74 



INDEX 



175 



Confederates, 75 

Congregational Church of Emmets- 
burg, organization of, 118 

Conlon, Thomas, 98 

Conners, Pat, buys threshing ma- 
chine, 91 

Consigny farm, 60 

Conway family, 101 

Conway, Jerry, 149 

Cooley, L. M., 102 

Coonan, Martin, settled in county, 
53; method of threshing, 54; post- 
master at Emmetsburg, 55, 58; 
candidate for county clerk, 64 ; 
candidate for county judge, 71; 
vote for, 71; elected sheriff, 73; 
distributes amunition, 77; builds 
log cabin, 107; builds brick house, 
107; tavern of, 107, 108, 109; 
Coonan 's house described, 111, 
112; family of, 113; travelers at, 
113, 114; hospitality of wife of; 
114; plats town of Emmetsburg, 
119, 121; buildings on plat of, 
124; old town grows along road 
of, 119; plats old town, 123; offers 
inducements to stay in old town, 
127, 128 ; elected sheriff, 1860, Ap- 
pendix A; elected surveyor, 1869, 
Appendix A; elected recorder, 
1876, Appendix A; portrait, 53 

Coonan, Catherine, came to county, 
53; portrait, 53 

Coonan, Martin, Jr., recollections of, 
cited 54 note; 113 

Coonan, Will, 113 

Coonan, Dan, 113 

Coonan, Tom, 113 

Coonan, John, 113 

('orbin, Austin, owns townsite, 123, 
124, 125 

Corbin & Lawler plat of Emmets- 
burg, referred to, 115 note; plan- 
ned, 124, 125; completed, 125 



Corcoran, Roger, settled with Crow- 
leys', 26 

Corry, F. M., vote for representative, 
71 

Council Bluffs, fort erected at, 12 ; 
Catholic mission established at, 12 

County Fair, organized, 140 

County Judge, importance of office 
of, 65; powers and duties of, 65, 
66; head of local government, 66; 
Hickey, Jas., elected first from 
Palo Alto county, 66 ; contracts 
with Clark for court house, 86 

County officers, scattered location of 
in 1872, 92 

County Seat, the dream of the pro- 
moter, 58 ; in western country, 58 ; 
in Palo Alto county, attempts to 
locate in, 58, 59, 60, 61; advant- 
ages of location of, 131; failure 
of speculative, 107; changed to 
Emmetsburg, 133 

County towns, rise of, 145; location 
determined by railroad, 145 

(Jounty warrants, depreciation of, 92, 
93, 94, 95; buying for specula- 
tion, 93, 94; redeemed, 94, 95 

Court, in old Paoli court house, 60, 
69; abandonment of, 69 

Court house at Paoli, contract for 
building of, 86; assigned, 86; un- 
finished, 86, suit brought for dam- 
ages, 86; settlement of, Appendix 
B; new, built, 133; Palo Alto 
County, picture of, 136 

Court House square, at Emmetsburg, 
procured, 124, 133 

Coverdale, Lieutenant, commanding 
company in border brigade, 77 

Coyle, Charles, buys McFarland 
quarter, 43 ; sells back to McFar- 
land, 43 

Coyle, Daniel F.. Judge, 43 

Crisman, S. P., elected treasurer, 



176 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



190;^, Apiietidix A; elected treas- 
urer, 1901, Appendix A 

Crooks, Bill, settled in county, 85 

Ci-ookston, Minnesota, 142 

Cross, Fred, came to county, 96 

Crowder, J. G., came to county, 84 

Crowley, Jerry, Sr., settled in Palo 
Alto county, 25; first experiences 
of, in county, 25; Indians eami)ed 
near cabin of, 25; candidate for 
coroner, 64; vote as candidate for 
coroner, 71 ; joins northern border 
brigade, 77; recollections of cited, 
76 note, 121; elected drainage 
commissioner, 1861, Appendix A 

Crowley, Michael H., description of 
Indians, 25, 26; interview with 
cited, 26 note; statement in re- 
gard to Indians, 32 note ; stae- 
ment of, cited, 53 note ; early spell 
ing book, 55 ; statement of, cited 
55 note; statement cited, 85 note; 
portrait, 24 

Crowley, J. P., 25; dealings with 
Corcoran, 26; portrait, 24 

Crowley, John, 25 

Crowley, Katie and Ellen, 25 

Cruikshank, John, 101 ; settled in 
Lost Island Township, 101 

Cullen, Alex, elected sheriff, 1901, 
Appendix A; elected sheriff. 1908, 
Appendix A 

Cullen, Terrence, 99 

Cullen, Thomas, 97 

Cullen, William E , came to county, 
85, 121, 139; elected clerk, 1863. 
Appendix A; elected recorder, 
1870, Appendix A; elected dork, 
1880, Aj/pendix A 

Culver, 110 

Currans, James, 101 

Curlew, founding of town of, 1")3; 
history of, 153 

Cvlinder creek, trials of exjiedition 



in crossing, 37, 38, 39, 40, 48; 

freighting through, 90, 154 
Cylinder, founding of town of, 154; 

history of, 154, 155 
Cylinder township, 64 

Dakota (City), W. D. Powers stays 
at, 20 ; lives in cave at, 20 ; jour- 
ney to, for provisions, 21, 29, 44, 
118; freight line to, 90; John Mc- 
Cormick at, 45; stage route to, 
88, 89 

Damon, Joseph, 101 

Dangers, to pioneer families, 106 

Daniels, M. D., sheriff, office of, 92; 
builds building in old town, 109; 
description of building, 109, 113; 
elected sheriff, 1871, Appendix A 

Davenport, named, 12 

Davidson, Wesley, 97; elected sher- 
iff, 1899, Appendix A ; elected 
sheriff, 1897, Appendix A 

Davidson, J. P., 97 

Davidson, F. C, elected attorney, 
1904, Appendix A ; elected attor- 
ney, 1902, Appendix A ; elected 
Eepresentative from Palo Alto 
county, 1908, Appen<lix A 

Davis, Thomas C, brings sawmill 
to county, 108; set up saw-mill, 
108, 110, 112, 113; postmaster, 
129; builds building in new town, 
129 

Davies, John L., county surveyor, 
vote for, 72 

Davies, John C, settled in county, 
52 ; early experiences of, 52 ; al- 
leged connection with horse 
thieves, 52 

Dawson, Thomas, came to county, 
54; buys yoke of cattle, 82 

Day, A. L., County Sujierintendent 
of Schools. 138; starts private 
school, 138; elected su]>erintend- 
ent, 1873, Appendix A 



INDEX 



177 



Democrat (old), no copies to bo 
found, 8 ; first pai)ei' in county, 
90 ; edited by James P. White, 90 ; 
published by James P. White, 119; 
prospectus of, Appendix E 

Democrat, Soda Bar, prospectus of, 
Appendix E 

Democrats, early settlers all, 64; 
vote on state ticket, 71 ; vote on 
presidential election, 1860, 72, 7:^ ; 
election of 1870, 92, 98, 94 

Democrat (present), 91, 94 

Des Moines, Indian prisoners on wmv 
to, 49 

Des Moines Eiver. surveyors cross, 
28; Lott returns to, 28, 14; West 
Bend settlement on, 15; settlers 
on west branch of, 22; cam]) on, 
23. 35; west fork of, 41, 42, 58; 
prairie fire jumps, 82, 107; saw- 
mill at old town, 108 

Des Moines Eegi^ter 4' Leader, cited 
29 note, 114 note 

Des Moines Valley Kailroad Co., land 
commissioner for, 92 

Des Moines River Railroad, project- 
ed, 141 

Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad, 
builds through to Ruthven, 146; 
built to Mallard, 152; built to 
Curlew, 153; built to Ayrshire, 
154 

Devil's Lake, Indians capture Pow 
ers at, 21 

De Witt, John, came to county, 83 

Dickinson county, settlement at, 30 

Dickinson, Z. F., 150; portrait, 88 

Dickerman, G. L., 97 

Ditch, Dan, 83 

Dodge, Augustus C, vote for govern- 
or, 71 

Dodge, General, 125 

Dolliver. J. P., lodged at Malian's. 
50 

Domek, Adam, 98 



Donlon, P. H., elected superintend- 
ent, 1887, Appendix A; elected 
superintendent, 1889, Appendix A ; 
elected superintendent, 1891, Ap- 
jiendix A 

Donohue, Mrs. Anna, 152 

Donovan, Anna, elected superintend- 
ent, 1897, Appendix A; elected 
superintendent, 1899, Appendix A ; 
elected superintendent, 1901, Ap- 
pendix A 

Donovan, John, freighted, 90; set- 
tles on section 26, Emmetsburg 
township, 99 

Dooley farm, 60 

Doran, John, farm referred to, 51 ; 
came to county, 84 ; describes 
early experiences in county, 84; 
letter of cited, 84 note, 121 

Doran, Dan, 121 

Dorweiller family, settles in Kos- 
suth county, 83 

Douglas, Stephen A., votes for, 73 

Downey, Thomas, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 ; came to county, 54 ; 
voting at cabin of, 63 

Downey, Ellen, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Downey, Elias, campaign for James 
Hickey, 64 

Dows, Col., 146 

Doyle, Martin, 101 

Drennan, William T., 98 

Drybread, George G., 147 

Dublin, Ireland, 118 note 

Dubuque, Julian, purchases land and 
starts mines, 12 note 

Dubuque, mining settlement of, 12, 
109 

Dudgeon, F., 96 

Duhn, L. P., 99 

Duhn, J. S.. 99 

Duncan, Walt, 130 

Duncan, C. S., came to Palo Alto 



178 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



county, 100; early experiences iu, 
100; letter cited, 100 note 

Duncan's band, in old town, 121 

Buncombe, John P., captain of Co 
B of relief expedition, 33; ad- 
dress of cited, 41 note; vote for 
senator, 71; employed as attorney 
for county, 86; at Shippeys, joins 
command after storm, 40 

Dunn, John L., elected surveyor, 54; 
elected surveyor, 1859, Appendix 
A 

Dyer, Sam, 98 

East Okoboji Lake, 143 

Easton, S. A., 153 

Egan, Thomas, 98 

Egyptians, plague of locusts, 136 

Election, first in county, 63 ; first 
regular, 63. 64; election of, 1870, 
92, 93, 94; election of 1871, 93, 94 

Elliott, James B., 98 

Elliot, John A., land commissioner 
for Des Moines Valley Kailway 
Co., 93 

Ellington township, school for, 96; 
Ellington township, first settlers 
in, 96, 100, 152 

Elk and deer, 16, 24; hunting, by 
Carters, 19 

Elson, A., came to county, 96 

Emmet, Robert, Emmetsburg named 
after, 59 

Emmet county, 59 

Emmetsburg township, first settlers 
in, 23, 98 

Emmetsburg, first postofiice called, 
54; speculative toMn of, laid out, 
58, 59; named after Robert Em- 
met, 59; abandonment of staked 
town, 59 ; residence of volunteers 
in northern brigade, 77, 89 ; 
freight line to, 90; early news- 
papers published at, 91 ; staging 
at, 88, 89; driving stage to, 89; 



stake town of, 108; travel to old 
town of, 108; old town of, early 
arrivals at, 108, 109 ; first houses 
on Call's addition of, 120; own- 
ers of town plat of, 123; negotia- 
tions for platting of, 123, 124, 
125; preparations for removal to, 
126, 127; platting of, 127; moving 
of, 128-131; growth of, 132-1.34; 
sources for later history of, cited, 
134 note; difficulties in laying out, 
127; railroad building at, 141- 
144; modern city of, 157, 158; 
picture of old town, 107; picture 
of new town, 1878, 123; in 1881, 
picture of, 129 ; the present city of, 
129 

Emmetsburg National Bank, 129 

Emmetsburg Democrat, Christmas 
souvenir edition of, cited, 134 note 

Emerich, H., 154 

Enterprise, Monthly, 91 ; no copies 
left, 8 

Erstad, C. O., 98 

Erstad, A. C, 98 

Estherville, volunteers for northern 
brigade, 76; border brigade sta- 
tioned at, 77; mill at for grinding 
wheat, 83 ; stage line to, 88 ; Palo 
Alto Democrat published at, 90; 
freighting to, 90, 139, 142, 143 

Evans, Jeremiah, settled with family 
at West Bend, 15, 20, 140 

Evans cabin, relief expedition at, 
33 

Evans, Mrs., caught Indians pilfer- 
ing, 16, 17 

Evans, James, 147 

Exodus, X:15, cited, 136 note 

Palb. Pred, 98 
Palb, blacksmith shop, 147 
Pahnestock, Preston, 151 
Pair, county, organized, 140 



INDEX 



179 



Fairfield township, some settlers in, 
97; settlers in, 98 

Fargo, North Dakota, 132 

Farm land, present value of, in 
county, 156 

Farmers Savings Bank, 129 

Fayette county, Palo Alto as part 
of, 62; Fayette county, 118 note 

Fenn, W. B., 149 

Fern Valley, some settlers in, 97 

Fern Valley township, 43 ; William 
Shippey settles in, 48; postoffice 
at, 55 ; religious service in, 56 ; 
settlers in, 85; staging at, 89, 
148 

Fellows, J. B., 101 

Fehlhauer, J. C, 148 

Fiddlers' green, stage route by, 88 

First oflScial newspaper, 91 

First Congregational Church of Em- 
metsburg, organization of, 118 

First National Bank Building, 133 

Fish, Joseph, came to county, 96 

Fisk, Melvin, 153 

Fisher, ran stage, 88 

Fitzgerald, James, genial, merchant 
of old town, 116; stories of, 116, 
117; opens store at old town, 115; 
refuses to move, 129, 130; finally 
moves, 131, 131 note. Appendix D 

Fleming, Michael, 101 

Fleming, John, 101 

Fort Belknap, 20 

Fort Clark, established. 13; name 
changed to Fort Dodge, 13 

Fort Des Moines, built, 12, 13 

Fort Dodge, settlers follow military 
road from, 15; tedious journey 
from, 17; trip to by Carter, 17; 
returned from, 18 ; many trips to, 
18, 22, 23; provisions obtained 
from, 24, 25; trading furs at, 25; 
Fort Dodge, name, 12; change 
from Fort Clark to, 13; troops 
move from, to Fort Ridgely. 13; 



town of, laid out, 13; country 
around, 13; stories carried back 
to, 14; establishment of, 28, 29; 
settlers seek refuge at, 32; news- 
of massacre stirs, 33; relief expedi- 
tion recruited at, 33; officers from, 
33; marches from, 34; McCormiek's 
journey from, 45; mail routes 
from, 54; Indian prisoners on way 
to. 49 ; travel from Spirit Lake, 
50 ; William Murphy worked at, 
51, 52; speculators from, 58; pe- 
tition sent to, 63; election news 
from, 72; enlistments at, 75; 
school books procured at, 55 ; 
speculators return to, 59; home- 
steaders make proof at, 80; home- 
stead law incentive to settlement, 
SO; trading point, 82, 85; stag- 
ing at, 89; homesteaders selecting 
land at, 99, 109; difficulties of 
hauling supplies from, 110, 111; 
terminus railway, 117; stage route 
from, 117 

Fort Madison, first settlement of, 12 

Fort Riley, 20 

Fort Ridgely, troops move from Fort 
Dodge to, 13, 14, 15; soldiers 
march to, 20 

Foly, D., 101 

Ford, Judge, 140 

Forest City, 148 

Forrest, P. C, 98 

Frame. J. R., 97 

Franklin, B., came to county, 83, 
147; elected auditor. 1875, Ap- 
pendix A 

Franklin 's, stage route by, 88 

Fraziers', 56 

Freeman, James, 101 

Freedom township, 125 

Fries, George, came to county, 96 

Fritz, M. L., 149 

Fritz, Mart, 149 



180 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Frontier life, discloses beginnings of 

society, 10 
Frontier, westward march of, 10 
Funkley, P. H., 101 

Galbraith, came to county, 83 

Galleger, John, 99 

Galleger, Pat, 99 

Gallegher, Jack, 147 

Gallup, A. D., builds the Valley 
House at old town, 115 

Ganzley, John, 155 

Gappa, Matt, 98 

Gardener, Milo, 98 

Garver, Frank H., articles on the es- 
tablishment and boundaries of 
Iowa counties, cited, 62 note 

General Assembly for the state of 
Iowa, 3rd, creates new counties, 
62; 5th, laws cited, 63, note 3 

Gibbs, Charles C, 102 

Gibbs, Mrs., 48 

Giddings, C. H., worked on threshing 
machine, 91 ; relates experiences, 
91; has picture, 91; Giddings, C. 
H., 150 

Giddings, H. F., 102 

Glenn farm, 44 

Goeders, John, 154. 155 

Goff, Warren, 101 

Goff, Dwight, 101 

Goldtrap, came to county, 83 

Goodell, Mr., 151 

Goodlaxon, E., came to county, 96 

Grace, W. H., came to county, 85 

Grace, Henry, came to county, 85 

Graettinger, 102 ; founding of town 
of, 150; history of, 150, 152 

Grahan, Michael, elected constable, 
73; elected constable, 1860, Ap- 
pendix A 

Granger's Grove, exi)edition reaches, 
35 

Grass, luxuriant growth of, in early 
days, 105 



Grasshoppers, pest of, 51 ; examples 
of numbers of, 51, 105; devasta- 
tion of, 135; description of, 135, 
136; methods for killing, 136; ef- 
fect on country, 136, 137 

Gray, Mark. 148 

Greeley, Horace, advice to go west, 
80 

Grethen, Peter, came to county, 96 

Great Oak township, referred to, 52 ; 
postoflfice at, 56; early settlers in, 
84, 85, 98, 121 

Grifiin, N. E., 113 

Griley, A., came to county, 96 

Grimes, Governor, appoints agent to 
protect the frontier, 33 

Groff, John, 98 

Gross, D. C, came to county, 96 

Grout, LeEoy, surveys town of Em- 
metsburg, 127; elected surveyor, 
1875, Appendix A; elected survey- 
or, 1877, Appendix A ; elected sur- 
veyor, 1879, Appendix A; elected 
surveyor, 1881, Appendix A; elect- 
ed surveyor, 1883, Appendix A; 
elected surveyor, 1885, Appendix 
A; elected surveyor, 1889, Appen- 
dix A; elected surveyor, 1891, Ap- 
I^endix A; elected surveyor, 1893, 
Appendix A; elected surveyor, 
1895, Appendix A ; elected survey- 
or, 1897, Appendix A; elected sur- 
veyor, 1899, Appendix A; elected 
surveyor, 1901, Appendix A; elect- 
ed surveyor, 1903, Appendix A; 
elected surveyor, 1906, Appendix A 

Grier, David G., came to county, 96; 
elected clerk, 1888, Appendix A 

Groves, C. G., came to county, 83 

Grundy county, 53, 141 

Gue, history of Iowa, 12 note, 14 
note, 34 note, 53 note, 75 note 

Guerdett, J. B., buys threshing ma- 
chine, 91 

Gunderson, f!., 101 



INDEX 



181 



Hackenburg, Mr., 153 

Hais, Abel, 56 

Hall, John D., starts store in olil 
town, 119; moves, 130 

Hall, Hiram, elected drainage com- 
missioner, 1863, Appendix A 

Halstead, D. H., came to county, 85 

Hammond, Eev. B. C, 102, 103. 110; 
preaches for Union Church, 118 

Hammond, S., 102 

Hampton, L. E., 148 

Hamilton, G. M., came to county, 97 

Hancock county. 117 

Hand, John, 99 

Hand, P. V., elected auditor, 1897, 
Appendix A ; elected auditor, 1900, 
Appendix A 

Hansen, Hans, 98 

Hanson, Peter, 10] 

Hanson, John W., elected sheriff, 
1893, Appendix A; elected sheriff, 
1895. Appendix A 

Hard times, of 1873. 135-137 

Hare, Ovid, 97 

Hare, Myron, 97 

Harriman, Jacob, came to county, 96 

Harris, Charles. 101 

Harrison, Albert 99 

Harrison, William, 99 

Harrison, T. W., office of, 92 ; jiolit- 
ical canvass, 94; buys farm. 
99; statement of, cited, 112 
note; describes Coonan hospi- 
tality, 114; first came to Emmets- 
burg, 114; decides to locate, 115; 
fifty years ago in Palo Alto coun- 
ty, 114 note; statement of cited. 
119; builds house in Call's addi- 
tion, 120; statement of, cited, 120 
note; arrival of bride of, 120; 
statement of, cited, 121 note; at- 
torney for Lawlcr and Railroad, 
123, 125; arranges for removal of 
old town, 126; draws bonds to 
insure removal to new town. 126 ; 



surveys new town, 127; statement 
of, cited, 127 note; account of be- 
ginning of new town described, 
127 note; statement of, cited, 128 
note; office of moved, 128; de- 
scribes moving of buildings, 129; 
statement of, cited, 129 note; state- 
ment of, 131 note; plans to name 
town Merrill, 131, 132; describes 
selling of town lots, 132; state- 
ment of, cited, 132 note ; appointed 
to investigate swamp lands. 139 ; 
treasurer of county fair, 140; del- 
egate to convention, 140; portrait, 
88; elected surveyor, 1871. Ap- 
pendix A 

Harrison & Burnell, publish Advance, 
119 

Harrison county, 140 

Hartshorn, E. J., comes to old town, 
115; forms partnership with Mc- 
Carty, 115; political canvass, 94; 
builds house, 120; letter of, cited, 
120 note; statement of, cited, 127; 
member of General Assembly. 137; 
petition for relief forwarded to, 
137; delegate to convention, 140; 
on railroad committee of legisla 
ture, 141; describes railroad fight, 
141, 142; letter of, cited, 142 note; 
elected treasurer, 1885, Appendix 
A; elected treasurer, 1887, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1894, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1896, Ap- 
XJendix A 

Hartungs, Rufus A., 97 

Harvey, Colonel, regiment of, 75 

Hastings, Charles, came to county, 
85, 121, 146 

Hatch, settled in Kossuth county, 
85 

Hathway, trials with expedition in 
crossing Cylinder creek, 39. 40 

llefley, .John M., came to county, 83 ; 
elected county judge, 1867, Ap- 



182 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



pendix A; elected sheriff, 1869, 
Appendix A 
Helgen, H. M., elected clerk, 1898, 
Appendix A; elected clerk, 1900, 
Appendix A 
Henry, Wm. G., came to county, 95; 
moved to Emmetsburg, 95; elected 
recorder, 1886, Appendix A 
Hendersons, 56 

Herd law, vote for, Appendix D 
Herrick, came to county, 83 
Herrington, C. L., came to county, 

97 
Herrington, S., came to county 97 
Hertley, Peter, came to county, 96 
Hickey, James, joins Irish colony, 
25; moves across river, 48; promi- 
nence of, 48, 49; Great Oak post- 
office at, 56; named from Oak 
trees, 56; election judge, 63; elect- 
ed county judge, 64; facts as to 
first election given by, 64 note; 
hospitality of home of, told by 
Charles Aldrich, 66 note; swears 
in other officers, 66, 67; orders 
books for county, 67; advertises 
for bids for selection of swamp 
lands, 67; makes contract with 
Hood, 67; makes contract with 
Clark to build court house, school 
at Paoli, 68; issues proclamation 
for special election to approve 
swamp land, 68 ; statements of, 
cited, 67 note; as county judge, 
appoints clerk, 70 note; appoints 
assessor, 70 note; re-elected county 
judge, 71 ; statement of, 71 note; 
fills vacancy in county offices, 72 ; 
clerk, 86 ; postoffiee, 88 ; stag- 
ing, 88, 89; experiences in stage, 
89, 121; elected county judge, 
1858, Appendix A; elected county 
judge, 1859, Appendix A ; elected 
clerk, 1864, Appendix A; elected 
clerk, 1865, Appendix A 



Hickey, Mr. and Mrs. James, por- 
trait, 24 

Hickey party, victorious at first elec- 
tion, 64 

Hickey, Michael O., appointed clerk, 
70; acting county judge, 72; coun- 
ty canvasser, 72; county surveyor, 
72 

Hiekey-McNally, Mrs. Maggie, por- 
trait, 24 

High Lake, 143 

Highland township, settlers in, 101 

Higley, John, 98 

Hill, John, came to county, 97 

Historical records, fast disappearing, 
8 

Historical sources, relied upon in this 
book, 8, 9 

Historical Department of Iowa, 
Charles Aldrich, founder of, let- 
ter from, cited, 66 note 

History of Kossuth county, 29 note 

Hodgkinson, C. W., elected auditor, 
1893, Appendix A; elected auditor, 
1895, Appendix A 

Hoffman, C. A., came to county, 96; 
first secretary of county fair, 140 

Homer, Iowa, 29 

Homesteaders, coming to county, 95 

Homeseekers, coming to county, 95 

Hood, Andrew, joins relief expedi- 
tion, 34; selects swamp land, 67, 
68; appointed county surveyor, 70 

Hoolihan, county seat speculator, 58, 
108 

Horse thieves, working in county, 
52 ; in the state, 53 ; references to, 
cited, 53 note 

Hoskins, John and Steve, 97 

Hougstein, Paul T., 98 

Hovey, John W., 101 

Howe, F. O., 101 

Howe, Dan, lives at West End set- 
tlement, 44 



INDEX 



183 



Howe, brings news of massacre from 
Lakes, 32 

Rowland, trials with expedition in 
crossing Cylinder creek, 39, 40 

Hughes, E. E., 155 

Hull, 142 

Hullen, Henry, 98 

Hunting, experiences at the West 
Bend settlement, 19 

Huntley, Sol, came to county, 96 

Humboldt, Iowa, 128; stage line 
from, 88, 99, 111 

Humboldt county, Lotts creek in, 
13 ; return of Lott to, 28, 29, 43 ; 
freight line to, 90, 117 

Independence township, settlers in, 
98 

Indians, had title to Iowa land, 12 ; 
traders roamed over prairie, 12; 
their title extinguished, 12; hos- 
tile, difficult to control, 13 ; trouble 
with the whites, 13 ; trouble with 
Henry Lott, 13; causes of Spirit 
Lake Massacre and border troub- 
les, 13; camped at West Bend set- 
tlement; pilfering from Evans, 16, 
17; driving away cattle, 17; ad- 
ventures of Sioux at West Bend, 
17, 18; driving away elk, 19; 
geese slaughtered by, 23, 24; 
camped near Crowley's, 25; In- 
dians menacing the pioneer, 27; 
various tribes roaming over prai- 
ries, 27; troubles with the settlers, 
27 ; troubles with Henry Lott, 27 ; 
resenting whites' advance, 28; 
treachery of Lott too, 28 ; ravages 
of Inkpadutah, 29 ; start for Spirit 
Lake, 30; Spirit Lake Massacre 
described, 30, 31 ; war dances after 
victory, 31; relief expedition 
against, 33 ; signs found by expe- 
dition, 35; prisoners on way to 
fort, 49; escape at Mahan's, 50; 
border troubles of, 1862, 76; out- 



break in Minnesota, 76; beaten 
off, in desperate fight, 76; prompt 
measures of border brigade, 77, 78 
Ingham, W. H., captured by Indians, 
3 ; enlists men for border brig- 
ade note 77; captain of Co. A, 77; 
his company located at Estherville, 
77 ; sums up results, 78 ; article on 
northern border brigade, cited, 76 
note, 77 note, 79 note; Annals of 
Iowa, cited, 76 note, 77 note, 78 
note 

Ingham, S. E., ordered to organize 
border brigade, 76, 77; work of 
in organizing, 77 

Ingham, Harvey, describes Indians 
in Midland Monthly, 29, 30; Mid- 
land Monthly, cited, 30 note 

Inkpadutah, leader of the Sioux In- 
dians, 16, 25; discovers murder of 
his brother, 28; becomes chief of 
Sioux band, 29; leads his band, 
29, 30; leader in Spirit Lake Mas- 
sacre, 30; where camped, 32 note 

Inman, George, 152 

Institute, teachers, first in county, 
138 

Iowa City, founded, 12; cornmeal 
brought from, 24, 44; end of rail- 
road, 45; John McCormick leaves 
goods at, 45 

Iowa Historical Record, cited, 10 
note, 11 note, 62 note 

Iowa Eiver, 12 

Iowa Lake, company of border brig- 
ade at, 77 

Iowa Land Office, Appendix D 

Iowa territory, 62 

Iowa Journal of History and Poli- 
tics, cited, 62 note 

Iowa Volunteer Infantry, 32nd, Co. 
I, Linn & Powers enlist in, 75 

Iowa, affords the best, 9 ; midway 
in western march, 11, 12; early 
settlements in, 12; settlers in, 12; 



184 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



tribes of Indians in, 27; ceded by 
treaty, 27; northern border 
brigade, description of, activities 
of, 76, 77, 78, 79; article on, by 
Capt. Ingham, cited, 76 note, 77 
note, 79 note; recollections of par- 
ticipants in, cited, 76 note; border 
counties alarmed in 1862, governor 
raises border brigade, 76, 77; 
prompt work of the brigade, 77, 
78, 79; settlement in delayed by 
Civil War, rush of settlement after 
war, 80; coming of homesteaders. 
80, 81 

Ireland, nativity of volunteers in 
border brigade, 77 

Irislimen, colony of, settled in coun 
ty, 22 

Irish colony, first settled in Palo 
Alto county in July, 1856, 22, 23 ; 
importance of, 26; first news of 
massacre brought to, 32; remain 
for some time, 32; seek refuge at 
Fort Dodge, 32; relief expedition 
reaches, 34; refugees sent back to, 
35; expedition returns to, 36; con- 
ditions in, 36; soldiers take steer 
by force from, 36 ; referred to, 48, 

Irvington, Kossuth county, 56 
51 ; candidates from at first elec- 
tion, 64 

Jackman 's Grove, camping at, 15 

Jackman, Michael, comes to county, 
52; cabin of, historical landmark, 
52, 99; family of, 107, 121 

Jackman, Billy, 121 

Jackman, Patrick, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 ; interview with, cited, 22 
note; joins northern border brig- 
ade, 77, 121; portrait, 2?, 

Jackson, Minnesota, 30; mail route 
to, 54, 14-J 

Jacobs, Geo. J., located at West 



Bend, 81; family of, 81; first ex- 
periences of, 81, 82, 83 

Jacobs, H. H., came to county, 81 ; 
described early experiences, 81, 83 ; 
interview with, cited, 83 note; 
drove stage, 88; experiences stag- 
ing, 88, 89, 147; description of 
store in West Bend, 147; elected 
sheriif, 1885. Appendix A; 1887, 
Appendix A ; elected sheriff, 1889, 
Api^endix A; elected sheriff. 1891, 
Appendix A 

Jasper County, settlers from, 32 

Jefferson barracks, 20 

Jennings, .John, 98 

Jenkins, Henry, starts Eeporter, 91 

Jensen, Nels, 99 

Jenswold, John, 98 

Josh, stayed at Carter "s, 19 

Johnson, D. A., elected clerk, 1902, 
Appendix A; elected clerk, 1904, 
Appendix A 

Johnson, James, came to county. 83, 
147 

Johnson, Ben, 109; arrival of bride 
of, 120 

Johnson. Sevcrt, 101 

Joiner, H. L., came to county. 83 

Joliffe, James, 56 

Joliffe, John, 56 

Johnson, J. C, captain of Co. C, of 
relief expedition, 32; perishes 
from cold, 36, 41 ; bones found 
years after, 36; cai)tain led men 
to bury dead, 36 

Jones. Peter, 99; description of 
country, 99 ; high water, 99 ; in- 
terview with, cited, 99 note 

Jones & Johnson, store building in 
old town, 115 

.Tones. Al, came to county, 109 ; 
stopi)ed at Coonan's, 109 note; 
purchased stock of goods, 109; 
mentioned, 112, 113; arrival of 



INDEX 



185 



bride of, 120; plays joke on Fitz- 
gerald, 116 

Joyce, Patrick, starts store in old 
town, 119; refuses to move, 129, 
130; finally moves, 131, 131 note; 
Appendix D; portrait of, 123 

Judgment, in Paoli Court House mat- 
ter, in full, Appendix B 

Kane, J. J., 98 

Kane, Dan, 121 

Kane county, 111., colony of Irish 
from, 22 

Keeler, James A., freighting, 90; 
diary of early days, 90 ; interview 
with, cited, 90 note 

Keenan, James, 99 

Keane, Daniel, came to county. 154 

Kelly, Dan, 148 

Kelly Bros., 97, 155 

Kelly, Jeremiah, came to county, 83. 
146 

Kelley, Edward, 98 

Kelly, B. E. elected superintendent, 
1885, Appendix A; elected attor- 
ney, 1890, Appendix A 

Kelly, E. G., elected treasurer, 1906. 
Appendix A ; elected treasurer. 
1908, Appendix A 

Kendall, Orie, 153 

Keokuk, laid out, 12 

Kerwick, M. F., comes to old town. 
119; portrait, 119 

Ketchen & Lenhart, open clothing 
store at old town, 115; move store, 
129 

Ketchen, Charles, delegate to conven- 
tion, 140 

King, E. J., 98 

King, Emory, arrival of bride of, 
120; elected sheriff, 1875, Appen- 
dix A; elected sheriff, 1877, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1884, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1886, Ap- 
pendix A 



Kinne, George, elected recorder, 

1898, Appendix A; elected record- 
er, 1900, Appendix A 

Kirby, Lizzie, came to county, 83 
Kirby, Thomas, came to county, 83 
Kirby, William, came to county, 83 
Kirby, Michael, came to county, 83, 

84, 121 
Kirby, Henry, came to county, 83 
Kirby, Mrs. Alice Tobin, 56 
Kirkwood, Samuel J., vote for gov- 
ernor, 71 ; raises forces for border 
brigade, 76, 77; general orders 
of, 78 
Kittlewell, Hiram, came to county, 

97 
Kleigle, George, 98 
Knapp, Joseph, came to county, 83 
Knutson, Torry, 101 
Kossuth county, pioneer settlers in, 

14; history of, 14 note, 147 
Krieg, John, came to county, 96 
Kress, Adam, came to county, 96 
Kunz, August, came to county. 96 

La Barre, Simpson, 98 
Lacy, A. Y., came to county, 96 
Lane, John, 99 

Lake Shore House, Appendix D 
Lamb, J. B., elected treasurer, 1897, 
Appendix A; elected treasurer, 

1899, Appendix A 
Lannon, Pat, 121 

Lang, John L., organizes church, 
118; builds house, 120; elected 
surveyor, 1873, Appendix A 

Land, prices in Palo Alto county. 
138 

Larson, Bessie, elected superin- 
tendent, 1893, Appendix A; elect- 
ed superintendent, 1895, Appendix 
A 

Larson, Torkel, 101 

Laughlins, location of settlement of, 
19; referred to, 50 note 



386 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Laughlin, Mrs. 121 

Laughlin, Thomas, settled with Irish 
colony, 12 ; came to county, 85 ; 
elected constable, 1861, Appendix 
A 

Laughlin, Lott, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22; interview with, cited, 22 
note; statement of, 55 note; elect- 
ed township clerk, 65; elected 
clerk, 73; joins northern border 
brigade, 77; recollections of, cit- 
ed, 76 note, 121; elected clerk of 
the District Court, 1860, Appendix 
A; portrait, 23 

Laughlin, Martin, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 ; candidate for treas- 
urer and recorder, 64; vote as can- 
didate for drainage commissioner, 
72, 121 

Laughlin, Mary, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Laughlin, J. T., settled M'ith Irish 
colony, 22 

Laughlin, Patrick, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Laughlin, Ellen, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Lawler, Gen. John, 124; owns town- 
site, 123, 126 

Laws of Iowa, 1860, cited, 66 note, 
cited, 62, note 3, 63 note 6 

Lee, Thomas, 101 

Leek, D. M., 101 

Lehane, T. W., 97 

LeMars, convention at, 139 

Letson, Amos, 99 

Leuer, John, came to county, 96 

Lewis, 139 

Linn, James, comes to county, 44; 
marriage of, 44; enlists in Civil 
War, 75 

Lincoln, adherence of, 72; votes for, 
73; approves homestead law, 80 

Linehan, Father, assists to build first 
church, 117 



Little, John F., came to county, 95 

Little, Frank, came to county, 95 

Little Crow, leads Sioux Indians, in 
border troubles of 1862, 76 

Little Sioux Eiver, Indians starting 
down, 30, 84 

Locust, see grasshopper 

Local government in Palo Alto Coun- 
ty, 62; development of, 70, 73 

Log cabins, built by first settlers in 
timber, 80, 81 

Loughridge, Linn, came to county, 
96 

Loomis, X. S., came to county, 96 

Loon Lake, Indians camping at, 30 

Lost Island, hunting at, 19 

Lost Island, post-office at, 100 ; stage 
line through, 101 

Lost Island Lake, first settler at, 
100; other settlers at, 101 

Lost Island Township, contained 
Highland and Lost Island, 100 ; 
divided in 1878, 100; settlers in, 
101 

Lott, Henry, cabin of, 13 ; troubles 
with the Indians, 13; unscrupu- 
lousness of, 27; cabin rendezvous; 
driven out by Indians, 28; his re- 
turn, 28; kills chief, Sidoninato- 
dah, 28 ; escapes down the river, 
28; failure to punish, 29; treach- 
ery of, one cause of Spirit Lake 
massacre, 29, 30 

Lott's creek, 13; return of Lott to, 
28 

Luce, A. M., left flour at Shippeys, 
34 

Lynch, Patrick, came to county, 54, 
85 ; elected sheriff, 1861, Appendix 
A 

Lynch, Andrew, came to county, 85 

Lynn, J., journey for provisions, 21 ; 
locates settlers in Palo Alto coun- 
ty, 22, 23, 101 

Lyon, T. J., came to county, 85 



INDEX 



187 



Lyon county, repudiates indebted- 
ness, 94 

Madison, Wisconsin, 125 

Mahan, Ann and Ellen, settled with 
Irish colony, 22 

Mahan, Edward, settled with Irish 
colony, 22; fearlessness of, 50; 
success trapping, 51; campaign 
for Nolan, 64, 121 

Mahan, Edward and Margaret, por- 
trait, 23 

Mahan, James, comes to county, 49 

Mahan, John J., settled with Irish 
colony, 22 ; interview with cited, 
22 note, 109; portrait, 22 

Mahan, John, comes to county, 49 

Mahan, Miss Anna, 152 

Mahan, Margaret, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Mahan, Mary, Anna, Maggie and 
Esther, come to county, 49 

Mahan, Mary Ann, comes to county, 
49; pursues Indians, 49, 50; a 
fearless frontier woman, 50 

Mahan, Myles, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22; interview with, cited, 22 
note ; come to county, 49 ; early ex- 
periences of, 49, 50, 51 ; courage 
of, 50 ; builds new house, 50 ; lines 
road to Spirit Lake, 50; goes to 
Mankato for supplies, 51, 121, 
portrait, 49 

Mahan, Miles E., comes to county, 
49; statement of, cited, 53 note; 
interview with, cited 50 note, 51 
note 

Mahan, Michael, appointer assessor, 
70 

Mahan, Patrick, comes to county, 49 

Mahan, William, comes to county, 49 

Maher, Thomas, came to county, 54 ; 
hauls county books, 67 ; appointed 
clerk, 70, 98 ; homestead entry, 
125 ; abandons same, 126 



Maher, William, came to county, 54, 
121 

Mail, carried by stage, 88 

Mallard, founding of town of, 152; 
history of, 152, 153 

Mankato, Minn., Mahan 's trip to for 
supplies, 51 

Map of Palo Alto County, frontis- 
piece 

Marriage, first in county, 44 

Marsh, Father, first religious ser- 
vice, 56 

Marsh, Joseph, came to county, 96 

Martin, bought steam saw mill, 85 

Martin, J. L., history of Palo Alto 
county, no copies to be found, 8; 
came to county, 85 ; political can- 
vass, 94 ; editor of Pilot, 120 ; pio- 
neer in school work, 138 ; elected 
county superintendent, 138; teach- 
er in institute, 138 ; elected super- 
intendent, 1869, Appendix A ; 
elected recorder, 1872, Appendix 
A; elected recorder, 1874, Ap- 
pendix A; portrait, 56 

Martin, John E., 98 

Martin, John S., 98 

Martin, J. K., came to county, 85 

Martin, L. A., elected recorder, 1894, 
Appendix A ; elected recorder, 
1896, Appendix A 

Martin, Patrick, came to county, 85 

Martin, Thomas, came to county, 85 

Martin, Thos. R., elected auditor, 
1902, Appendix A ; elected auditor, 
1904, Appendix A 

Martin, Captain, quarters soldiers at 
Mahans, 49 

Mason, Frank R., experience in 
crossing Cylinder creek, 37, 38, 
39; recollections of, cited, 41 note 

Matthews, Mary E., teacher at West 
Bend, 56 

Mathieson, Jacob, 98 

Mathieson, Julius, 98 



188 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



McAlhany, P., 101 

McBane, Angus, joins relief expedi- 
tion, 34 

McBride, James, 101 

McCarty, George B., came to county 
in 1869, 109; describes journey, 
109 ; early experiences of, in old 
town, 109-113; statement of cited, 
109 note ; buying warrants, 93 ; 
describes campaign of 1870, 92, 93, 
94, 95; recollections of Palo Alto 
county, cited, 95 note; political 
canvass, 94 ; recollections of early 
Palo Alto county, cited, 108 note, 
113; recollections of early Palo 
Alto county, cited, 114 note; first 
office of, in old to^Ti, 115; cost of 
lumber to build, 115 note; loca- 
tion of old building in new town, 
115 note; statement of, cited, 115 
note; practical jokes on, 116; at- 
torney for Corbin, 123; negotiates 
for platting of Emmetsburg, 123- 
125 ; statement of cited, 125 note ; 
surveys new town, 127; statement 
of, cited, 127 note; office of, 
moved, 128; describes moving of 
buildings. 129, 130, 131; state- 
ment of, 131 note; appointed to 
investigate swamp titles, 139 ; can- 
didate for district attorney, 139, 
140 ; elected district attorney, 140 ; 
removes to Sioux City, 140 ; re- 
turns to Emmetsburg, 140; elected 
district attorney for four years, 
1874, Appendix A; vote for dis- 
trict attorney. Appendix D; por- 
trait, 109 

McCarty & j\lc(.'arty, site of old 
landmark near office of, 115 note; 
law office, 128 

McCarty, D. G., early social and re- 
ligious experiments in Iowa, cited, 
10 note; Territorial Governors of 
the old Northicest, cited, 10 note; 



early social and religious experi- 
ments in Iowa, 11; describes early 
settlement in Iowa, cited, 11 note, 
12 note, 62 note 

McCarty & Hartshorn, office of, 92 ; 
forms partnership, 115; publish 
Advance, 119; office of, moved, 
128 ; land advertisement. Appendix 
I) 

McCarty, Martin, 98 

McClelland, S., journey for pro- 
visions, 21; hunting with, 19; first 
came to the county, 15; returns to 
Palo Alto county, 42 ; locates on 
Des Moines river, 42 ; elected con- 
stable, 65 

McComb, Father, held religious ser- 
vice, 56 

McCormick, Charles, joins family in 
West Bend, 46; some reminis- 
cences cited, 44 note, 46 note ; 
reminiscences of a pioneer, cited. 
54 note; cited 56 note 

McCormick, Isabel, see Mrs. Isabel 
McCormick Stone 

McCormick, James, conies to county, 
44; froze feet on journey, 44; 
amputation at Fort Dodge, 44 ; 
elected justice of the peace, 65; 
successful vote for sheriff, 71; 
justice of the peace, 72; county 
canvasser, 72; elected sheriff, 
1859, Appendix A 

McCormick, John, settled in Nevada 
townsliip, 98 

McCormick, John. .Jr.. comes to 
county. 44, 45, describes journey. 
45; first experiences in new home. 
45, 46 ; interview- with cited, 40 
note; had first mower in the coun- 
ty, 82 ; Alf Jacobs i)uts up hay. 
82 ; writes to brother, 43 ; recollec- 
tions of, cited, 43 note; elected 
county superintendent, 1861, Ap- 
pendix A; elected coroner. 1861, 



INDEX 



189 



Appendix A; elected coroner, 
1863, Appendix A; elected slieriff, 
1867; Appendix A; portrait, 20 

McCormick, Joseph, joins family in 
West Bend, 46; enlisted in Civil 
War, 75; met death at Memphis, 
75 ; buried in National Cenietei-y, 
75 

McCormick, Mrs. John, Sr., comes to 
county, 44; travels to Palo Alto 
county, 42 

McCormick, Robert, comes to county, 
42; one of volunteers to bury 
dead, 36 ; writes from Palo Alto, 
43 

McCormick, Tom, joins family in 
West Bend, 46; postmaster at 
Fern Valley, 55; successful vote 
for clerk, 71 ; elected county 
judge, 1861, Appendix A; elected 
clerk, 1859, Appendix A 

McCormicks, hospitality of, 46; de- 
scribed by J. N. Prouty, 46, 47, 
48, 85; Pern Valley postoflBce at, 
48, 55; voted for Nolan party, 64; 
first three republicans, 71 note 

McCormicks. relief expedition, 34 

McCosker, Felix, elected county 
clerk, 64; leaves county, 70; fails 
to qualify as clerk, 70 

McCosker, James, settled in county, 
.53; first county surveyor, 53; 
elected county surveyor, 64; 1858, 
Appendix A 

McCoy, John, came to county, 85 

McCoy farm, 52 

McDonald, .John, 146 

McDonnell, T., elected sheriff, 1879, 
Appendix A; elected sheriff, 1881, 
Appendix A 

McEvoy, E. P., settled in county, 
101 ; interest in Osgood, 150 ; 
elected treasurer, 1889, Appendix 
A; elected treasurer, 1891,. Ap- 
pendix A; portrait, 88 



McFarlaud and Son, 148 
McFarland, C. J., judge, appoints 

commissioners, 60 
McFarland & McCormick, 147 
McFarland, E. M. .1., Sr., comes to 

county, 43; returns to Wisconsin, 

4.> ; comes back to Palo Alto, 43 
McFarland, C. J., appoints county 

seat commissioners, 67 
McGregor, Iowa, 109 
McGregor & Missouri River Railway, 

built as far as Algona, 117; 

fight over forfeiture of grant of, 

141, 142 
McGroarty, Miss Mary, composes 

"March of Emmetsburg, " 131 
McGrorty, A. S., Jr., elected super- 
intendent, 1877, Appendix A 
McGuffey's speller, used by i)io- 

neers, 55 
McKnight, Ed., 20; cabin rifled, 29 
McKnight's Point, services at, 56, 

89 
McKnight, Lieutenant, commanding- 
company in border brigade, 77 
McKinley, 103 
McLaughlin, settled in Lost Island, 

101 
McNally, Mrs. Maggie Hickey, first 

white child born in the county, 25; 

portrait 
McNally, Myles, 98 
Meagher vs. Drury, 89th Iowa 366, 

63, cited 63 note 
Medium Lake, swarming with game, 

24; referred to, 52, 107. 108, 121; 

site of county seat on bank of, 58 
Mellon, W. H., 98 
Memphis, Tennessee, 75 
Menzies, John, elected attorney, 

1894, Appendix A; elected attor- 
ney, 1896, Appendix A 
Merrill, Samuel, 109, 124; attempt 

to name Emmetsburg after, 131, 

132, 142, 144 



190 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Mertis, John, 153 

Methodist Episcopal Church of Em- 

metsburg, organization of, 118, 

119 
Mexican war, Palo Alto named after, 

62, 63 
Midland Monthly, cited, 29 
Mikes Brothers, 147 
Millfread, Joseph, 152 
Miller, Billy, 45 
Miller, William, trading post cabin 

of, 13 
Miller, Eufus, 97 
Miller, Thomas, 145 
Miller, Amos J., 101 
Millerke, Hiram, 99 
Mills, John, came to county, 96 
Millea, J. H., 98 
Millea, David, 98 
Military road, travels over, 42, 15 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 124, 150 
Minger, Elmore, 148 
Minnesota, expedition reaches state 

line of, 35, 118; Sioux outbreak 

in, 76 
Minute record, cited, 70 note 1, 

cited, 67 notes; cited, 69 note 
Minutes and Supervisors record, 

cited, 86 note; cited, 87 note; 88 

note; cited, 76 note; cited, 91 

note, 92 note; cited, 133; cited, 

137 note; cited, 139 note 
Mitchell, Alex., 124 
Mississippi river, western progress 

delayed at, 12 
Missouri river, 20 
Missouri, 20 
Modern Towns of present Palo Alto 

County, 157, 158 
Moffitt family, came to county, 96 
Moffitt, John, came to county, 96 
Moncrief family, came to county, 85 
Moncrief, John, elected surveyor, 

1887, Appendix A; elected auditor, 

1891, Appendix A 



Money Panic of 1873, 137 

Monticello, Iowa, 113 

Morrison, Seymour, came to county, 

97 
Moran, Thomas, 102 
IMorling, E. A., elected attorney, 

1898, Appendix A; elected attor- 
ney, 1900, Appendix A 
Mosquitoes, prevalence of in early 

days, 106 
Mulroney's, Soda Bar Postoffice at, 

54, 55 
Mulroney, Kieren, came to county, 

54; joins northern border brigade, 

77, 121 
INIulroney, Maggie, 54 
Mulroney, Mrs., 54 
IMulroney's, Jacobs hauls hay from, 

82 
Mulroney, Patrick, elected county 

judge, 1863, Appendix A; elected 

county judge, 1865, Appendix A 
Mulroney, John M., elected treasurer 

and recorder, 64; successful vote 

for treasurer and recorder, 71 ; 

elected treasurer and recorder, 73 ; 

elected treasurer and recorder, 

1858, Ajipendix A; elected county 
treasurer and recorder, 1859, Ap- 
pendix A; elected treasurer and 
recorder, 1860, Appendix A ; elect- 
ed treasurer and recorder, 1861, 
Appendix A ; elected treasurer and 
recorder, 1863, Appendix A ; elect- 
ed recorder, 1864, Appendix A 

Mulroney, Joseph, settled in county, 
54 ; elected constable, 65 ; success- 
ful vote for drainage commission- 
er, 72; joins northern border bri- 
gade, 77; ran stage, 88; freezes 
feet, 82; supervisor, 86, 117, 121; 
elected drainage commissioner, 

1859, Appendix A 

Munch, Henry, came to county, 96 
Murphy's bayou, first camp at, 23 



INDEX 



191 



Murphy, William, comes to county, 
51; returns to Fort Dodge, 52; 
settles permanently in county, 52; 
aids laying out county seat, 58 ; 
statement of, cited, 59 note, 121 

National Cemetery, 75 

Neary, John, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22, 121; portrait, 22 

Neary, John F., settled with Irish 
colony, 22; interview with, cited, 
22 note; statement in regard to 
Indians, 32 note 

Neary, Mary, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22 

Neary, James, elected county super- 
visor, 1861, Appendix A 

Neary, Patrick, came to county, 85 ; 
road to, 85 

Nelson, John, 99 

Nevada Township, settlers in, 98 

Newark, N. J., 44 

New Jersey, 43, 44, 45 

New settlers, selecting locations, 42 

New Ulm, Minnesota, Indians at 
tack, 75; desperate fight at, 76; 
Indians beaten off, 76 

Nolan, Anastasia, setled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Nolan, Bridget, settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Nolan, Charles, came to county, 85 

Nolan, Charles T., settled with Irish 
colony, 22; statement of, 55 note, 
109, portrait, 23 

Nolan, James, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22 ; election judge, 63 ; can- 
didate for county judge, 64 ; vote 
as candidate for sheriff, 71 ; elect- 
ed surveyor, 73, 121 ; elected sur- 
veyor, 1860, Appendix A 

Nolan, Mr. and Mrs. James, portrait, 
22 

Nolan, James. Jr., settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Nolan, James F., came to county, 84 



Nolan, John, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22; first postoffice at, 54; 
mail distribution at, 55; elected 
constable, 65; elected justice of 
the Peace, 73, supervisor, 86, 99, 
121; elected justice of the peace, 
1860, Appendix A; elected county 
supervisor, Emmetsburg township, 
1863, Appendix A 

Nolan, John F., settled with Irish 
colony, 22 

Nolan, Maria, settled with Irish col- 
ony, 22 

Nolan, Patrick, settled in county, 51, 
99, 104, 121; elected sheriff, 1865, 
Appendix A; elected sheriff, 1873, 
Appendix A 

Nolan, P. v., elected sheriff, 1883, 
Appendix A; elected auditor, 1887, 
Appendix A; elected county au- 
ditor, 1889, Appendix A 

Normal Institute, first in county, 138 

North, The, in the Civil War, 74 

Northwest Iowa, early settlement in, 
13, 14 

No whan, Percy, 56 

Obart, H. C, came to county, 96 

O'Brien County, 94, 142 

Ochseedawashta, visits W. D. Powers, 
20 

"Old town" of Emmetsburg, 103, 
104, 105; beginning of, 107, 108; 
early growth of, 108, 109; condi- 
tions in, 113-121; j)opulation of, 
119; houses built East of, 120; 
temporary buildings in, 122 ; 
reaches its acme, 122, 123 ; un- 
settled condition in, 123; agitation 
for removal of, 123; picture of 

Old settlers, recollections taken ver- 
batim as sources for this history, 
9; their assistance acknowledged, 
9 

O'Connor, James, 102 



]92 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



O'Connor, Thomas, 102 

O'Connor, Thomas, elected county 
attorney, 1886, Appendix A; 
elected county attorney, 1888, Ap- 
pendix A; elected attorney, 1892, 
Appendix A 

O'Connell, William, 121 

Odland, Anna, elected superintend 
ent, 1903, Appendix A 

O 'Grady, P., 154 

Ohio, nativity of Sergeant Carter in 
border brigade, 77 

Okoboji Lakes, settlement at, 30 ; 
massacre at, 30, 31 

Oleson, M. N., 155 

Olney, Dr., of Fort Dodge, 44 

Olsen, James, 99 

Olsen, Lars, 99 

Olson, Peter, came to county, 97 

Ormsby, Col. E. S., locates in old 
town, 118 ; organizes Methodist 
church, 118, 119; establishes first 
bank, 119; moves house and bank, 
129; plants wheat in new town. 
133 ; president Des Moines Eiver 
K. R., 141; portrait, 133 

Ormsby, A. L., arrival of bride of, 
120; builds brick house, 133 

Ormsby, Scot, 107 

Oshier, H. N., 151 

Osgood, founding of, 149 ; history of. 
101, 102, 149, 150; railroad race 
through, 143, 144 

Osgood, Canada, 150 

Owen, son acts as guide through hijili 
water, 99 

Owens, P. H., 154 

Owens, Robert C, came to county, 97 

Palo Alto township, 64 

Palo Alto, rich and fertile, 9; first 
setlement in, May, 1855, 15; first 
prairie broken in, 16; soil uutrod 
by permanent settlers, 14; first 
travelers over, 14; Major Sher- 



man's march through, 20; Wil- 
liam D. Powers settles in, 20 ; 
Irish settlement in, 22 ; settlers in, 
knew nothing of Spirit Lake mas- 
sacre, relief expedition reach, 33; 
letters from, 43 ; settlers in, 43 ; 
climate severe, 43; beauties of, 
43; first marriages in, 44; settle- 
ment of Myles Mahan in, 49; first 
mail service in, 54; speculative 
county seats in, 58, 59, 60, 61 ; 
need of county organization, 62; 
part of original Fayette county, 
62 ; established as a new county, 
62 ; named after battle of Palo 
Alto in Mexican war, 62, 63 ; at- 
tached to Boone county for gov- 
ernmental i^urposes, 63; attached 
to Webster county, 63; organized 
as a separate county government, 
63, 64 ; first election in. abstract 
of votes, 64, 65; smoothness of 
county government, 73; volunteers 
in northern border brigade, from, 
77; anxiety in, during border 
troubles, 78 ; guns and amunition 
distributed to settlers in, 77; 
homestead proof made at Fort 
Dodge office, 80; western tier of 
counties at Sioux City office, 80 ; 
settlement delayed during war, 81 ; 
population of, 81 ; census shows 
growth of, 81; stage lines in, 88, 
89; freight lines in, 90; early 
newspapers in, 90, 91 ; pays old 
indebtedness in full. 94; home- 
steaders coming to, 99 ; period of 
growth for, 106; advance of in 
population and prosperity, 106 ; 
impressions of a traveler to. 1869, 
107, 108; land prices in, 138; in- 
dustries of, 138; schools of, 138; 
modern aspects of, 156, 157, 158 ; 
value of farms of, 156; banking 
strength of, 156; trade and bus!- 



INDEX 



193 



ness of, 156; products of, 157; 
social conditions of, 157; modern 
towns of, 157, 158; advantages of, 
158; map of, frontispiece 
Palo Alto bounded, 62 
Palo Alto Reporter, cited, 44 note; 

cited, 54 note 
Palo Alto Printing Company, jiub- 

lished the Pilot, 119 
Palo Alto Advance, published in Old 
Town in 1870, no copies left, 8; 
published at, 90 
Palo Alto Patriot, published in 1878, 
no copies left, 8; published in 
1873, 91; started, 119; extra copy 
of, 119 note 
Palo Alto Tribune, 118 note 
Paoli, old postoffice at, 55; location 
of county seat at, 67; located by 
county seat commissioner. 60; 
court house and school house built 
at, 60; failure to develop town, 
60; abandoned, 61; court house, 
description of, 68; school house at, 
68; description of, 68; desertion 
of, 69; residence of volunteers, 77; 
steam saw mill at, 85; contract 
for buildings at, 86; court house 
at, untenantable, 92; brick from 
court house at, 107, 108. 13.3 
"Paddy in the Bush," 121 
"Paddy on the Flat," 121 
"Paddy Green," 121 
Parmeter brings news of massacre 

from Lakes, ,32 
Pattersonville, 142 
Patton, Lille, elected superintendent, 
1906, Appendix A; elected super- 
intendent, 1908, Appendix A 
Pease, Luther L., 63; vote for sen- 
ator, 71 
Peddie, Alex., statement of, cited, 
127; comes to old town, 115; por- 
trait, 119 
Pendergast, .John, came to county. 



54; elected justice of the peace, 
65; elected clerk, 1861, Appendix 
A 
Pendleburg, George, 154 
Pennsylvania, 11th Cavalry, 75; 

Palo Alto county, soldiers in, 75 
Perkins, Henry, elected superintend- 
ent, 1879, Appendix A 
Perry, Izac, came to county. 96 
Perry, W. I., 101 
Peterson, Peter O., 98 
Peterson, Thomas, 99 
Peterson, E., came to county, 96 
Peterson, owns first threshing ma- 
chine in county, 85 
Phoenix, J. R., came to county, 97 
Pharoah, plague of locusts, in time 

of, 136 
Pike, H. A., elected superintendent, 

1881, Appendix A 
Pilot, published in 1874, partial file 
only of, 8; issued in old town, 
119, 120; published at Emmets- 
burg, 1874, 91; description of, 
120; incomplete file of preserved, 
120 note, 131 note; items from, 
Appendix D 
Pioneers fast passing away, 7; per- 
petuate achievements of, 9; charm 
surrounding life of first settlers, 
11; increases with passing of 
frontier life, 11; adventures of, 
11; endure hardships to found a 
home, 11; first experiences at 
Irish settlement, 23; incident il- 
lustrating difficulty of, 43; of 
Iowa and the Civil War, 74; of 
Palo Alto county and Civil War, 
74; locate in timber, 81; home- 
steaders locate on prairie, 80, 81; 
pioneers' privations of, described, 
82, 83; pleasures of, 106; women 
of, self-sacrifice of, 106; troubles 
with grasshoppers. 135-137; effect 
of hard times on, 136, 137; desti 



194 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



tution of, 137; return of prosper- 
ity, 137, 138 

Pleasant Hill, Palo Alto soldiers in 
battle of, 75 

Plover, 152 

Plymouth county, 117 

Pocahontas county, services at, 56, 60, 
67, 117 

Pocahontas, prairie fire coming from, 
81 

Political organization in detail, 62, 
73; established, 73; campaigns, 
92, 93, 94, 95; close for years, 95 

Pollock, William B., joins relief ex- 
pedition, 34; county seat commis- 
sioner, 60 ; county seat commis- 
sioner, 67 

Pond, E. G., bills saw-mill, 108, 112, 
113 

Population of Palo Alto county, 156 

Post, Sam, came to county, 96 

Potatoes, price in 1871, 100 

Potter & Seovington, 146 

Pottawattomie Indians, 12 

Powhattan, services at, 56 

Powers, William D., letter to semi- 
centennial committee, 14 note; let- 
ters from, 15 note; joining West 
Bend colony, 20; tells his story, 
20, 21; letter of, cited, 21 note; 
marriage of, 44; elected justice of 
the peace, 65; elected township 
clerk, 65; justice of the peace, 72 
county canvasser, 72 ; enlists m 
Civil War, 75 ; elected recorder, 
1868, Appendix A; portrait, 20 

Prairie, first broken in the county, 
16 

Prairie fires, menace of, 51; ex 
amples of terror of, 51; burns out 
Jacobs, 81, 82 
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, 123. 

124, 126 
Presidential campaign in, 1860, 72, 
73 



Presbyterian church, organized, 56 
Prices for produce in 1871, 105 
Products of Palo Alto county, 157 
Prospectus of Palo Alto Democrat, 
published at Soda Bar, Appendix E 
Protestant church, in old town, 118 
Prouty, J. N., takes homestead, 99 ; 
moves back to Humboldt, 99; de- 
scription of McCormick hospital- 
ity, 46, 47, 48; letter of, cited, 
48 note 
Prouty, Tom, 99 

Prouty, T. J., elected clerk, 1874, 
Appendix A; elected clerk, 1876, 
Appendix A; elected clerk, 1878, 
Appendix A 
Prouty, Chester, 99 
Pugsley, George, 97 
Public Park of Emmetsburg, secured, 
124 

QUIGLEY, B., 98 

Quigley, Peter, 98 

Eadigan, p., 101 

Railroad, Des Moines River, pro- 
jected, 141 
Randall, Ezekial. and family, came 

to county, 96 
Read, Washington, vote as candidate 

for treasurer and recorder, 71 
Ream, Daniel, elected superintendent. 

1864, Appendix A 
Red End, see Inkpadutah 
Reed, M., came to county, 96 
Reed, William, settled in county, 53 
Register c^- Leader, cited, 119 note 
Register of elections cited, 64 note, 

70 notes, 71 note, 72 note 

Reichle, August, 150 

Relief expedition recruited, 33 ; 

starts on march, 33; reaches Palo 

Alto county, 33; experiences of, 

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 ; trials 

* in crossing Cylinder creek, 37, 38, 



INDEX 



195 



39, 40; courage of, 41 ; importaneo 
of in history, 41 

Religious service, first in county, .56 

Reporter, Palo Alto, complete files 
preserved, 8; started, 1876, 91; 
cited, 134 note, 136 note, 138 
note, 140 note, 141 note. 142 note 

Republican, three first votes in coun- 
ty, 71 ; votes for governor, 71 ; 
McCormick's first three. 71 note; 
four votes for president in 1860. 
72; campaign of 1870, 92. 93. 94 

Republican paper, 91 

Resolution, asking relief for county. 
Appendix C 

Revision of 1860. cited. 66 note 

Richards, J. C, came to county, 97 

Richards, Charles B., captain of Co. 
A of relief expedition, 33 ; remin- 
iscences of, cited, 34 note, 39 note; 
at Shippey 's. joins command after 
storm, 40 

Richardsou, Ralph, 97 

Richardson, William, 97 

Richardson, Thomas. 97 

Richardson, Pearl, elected recorder. 
1906, Appendix A ; elected record- 
er, 1908, Appendix A 

Rierson, Anfin, 101 

Rierson, Halver, 101 

Riverdale farm, 53, jIS 

Robinson, Judge, 140 

Robins, John, 103 ; elected superin- 
tendent, 1871, Appendix A; elect- 
ed auditor, 1877, Appendix A ; 
elected auditor, 1879, Appendix A 

Rocky Mountains, grasshop))ci's from, 
135 

Rodman, McCormieks located near. 
44; founding of, 148; history of. 
148, 149 

Rogers, John, came to county. 96 

Rolfe, state route to, 88. 89 

Root house of pioneer cabin, 23 

Roper, F. H.. becomes landlord of 



the Valley House, 115, 116, state- 
ment of, cited, 116 note 

Roper's Hall, Appendix D 

Roper, Bill, stormbound on stage. 
89 

Rowen, Rev. J. E., editor of Piloi, 
120 

Rund, Adam, came to county, 96 

Rupert, John, came to county, 96 

Rural schools, in county, 157 

Rural mail routes in county, 157 

Rush Lake township, newcomers in. 
96, 152; experiences of Carters at, 
17 

Rustabakke, S. A., 98 

Rutland, Humboldt county, 45; stag- 
ing to, 88 

Ruthven, Robert, owns towusite, 101. 
145 

Ruthven, founding of town of, 145; 
history of, 145, 146 

Ruthven, Alex, 101 ; owns townsite. 
145 

Ruthven, John. 101 

Ruthveus, 101 

Ryan, Myles, came to county. 85 

Ryder, Orin, 99 

Ryder, William, 99 

Ryder, Silas, 101 

Sac and Fox Indians, sell land to 

Dubuque, 12 note 
Sage, first name of Emnietsburg. 132 
Sage, Russell, 132 
Salter, Wm., Iowa, the -first free. 

state in the Louisiana purchase, 

12 note 
Sands, T. H., 153 
Sanders, Ed., 96 
Sanders. H.. 96 
Sanford, Filo, 96 
Sater, Andrew, 97 

Saunders, W. E. G., mansion of, 121 
Saw Mill, at Paoli, 85; service to 

settlers, 85 



106 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Sawyer, John, 97 

Sawyers, Colonel, commanding bor- 
der brigade, 78; reports of, 78 

Scarlet Point, see Inkpadutah 

Scandinavian settlement, in Palo 
Alto county, 99, 100 

Schaffer, of Dakota City, McCor- 
micks stop with, 44 

Schneider, John, 97 

Schneider, Mike, came to county, 96 

School at West Bend, 56 

School, at Graettinger, 151, 152 

School, first in county, 55 

Schools, organiation of, 55; of mod- 
ern Palo Alto county, 157; increas- 
ing, 138; superintendent of, 138 

"School section," of Coonan house, 
111, 112 

Schoonmaker & Hall, 154 

Schuler, Mike, 96 

Scofield, A. J., came to county, 96 

Scott, James, vice-president county 
fair, 140 

Seasnbumer, Anton, came to county. 

Secession, as an issue in Civil War, 
74 

Seely, L., 98 

Semi-Centennial, Palo Alto county, 
at Emmetsburg, Iowa, July, 190(3, 
renewed historical associations, 8 ; 
containing autograph register of 
visitors, 8 

Semi-Centennial committee, letters 
to, 15 note; letter of Mr. Carter 
to, 19 

Semi-Centennial Record Book, cited, 
54 note, 125 note, 118 note, 114 
note 

Settlement of Paoli Court House 
matter. Appendix B 

Settlement of judgment, 87; com- 
pleted by supervisors, 87; poor lo- 
cation of, 87; abandonment of, 87; 
interior furnishings of, 87 

Settlement, genesis of, shows charac- 



ter of development, 10; Western, 
delayed by Civil War, 80 

Sharp, Mrs. Abbie Gardner, sole sur- 
vivor of Spirit Lake massacre, 30 ; 
described Spirit Lake massacre, 
30, 31; history of Spirit Lake 
massacre, cited, 30 note, 31 notes, 
34 note 

Sharp, Seth, 56 

Shade tree city, Emmetsburg as, 133 

Sheperd, J. W., came to county, 97 

Sherlock postoffice, 97 

Sherlock, Patrick, came to county, 
96, 97 

Sherlock, James, 97 

Sherlock, Dan, 97 

Sherlock, John, 97 

Sherlock, Joe, 97 

Sherman, Major, niarfh through 
county in 1854, 20 

Sheas, came to county, 54 

Shea, William, came to county, 85, 
121; finds bones of Johnson and 
Burkholder, 36 

Shea, W. H., forms partnershij) with 
White, 115; plays joke on Fitz- 
gerald, 116, 94, 113, 139; elected 
auditor, 1873, Appendix A 

Shea., Thomas, came to county, 85, 
121 

Shea, John, came to county, 85; 
elected drainage commissioner, 64; 
elected drainage commissioner, 
1858, Appendix A 

Shea, Robert, came to county, 85, 
121, 139; elected clerk, 1870, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1872, Ap- 
pendix A; elected treasurer, 1877, 
Appendix A; elected treasurer, 
1879, Appendix A; elected treas- 
urer, 1881, Appendix A; elected 
treasurer, 1883, Appendix A 

Sheldon, 141 

Shippey's, flour found at, 34; relief 



INDEX 



197 



expedition reaches, 34; relief ex- 
pedition at, 38, 39, 40, 85 

Shippey, Eobt., candidate for drain- 
age commissioner, 64 

Shippey, William, settled in county, 
48 

Shippey, James, candidate for coun- 
ty surveyor, 64 

Shippey, John, vote for candidate 
for county surveyor, 72 

Shriner, E. E., 149 

Sidominatodah, death of, 28 

Silver creek, bridge over, 69 

Silver Lake township, settlers in, 
96; some early history of, article, 
cited, 97 note 

Simonson, A., 101 

Simmons, Jason, came to county with 
McFarland, 43 

Sioux City, Iowa, 22, 113, 140; land 
oflfice, western tier of townshii-s, 
land proof at, 80 

Sioux Indians, camped near West 
Bend settlement, 16; trouble with, 
16; camp near Carters', 17; ex- 
periences of, 18, 20; ferocity of, 
27; trouble of with Lott, 27, 
28; treachery of Lott towards, 
28; death of chief, Sidominiato- 
dah, 28; Inkpadutah becomes 
chief, 29; vengeance of, 30; per- 
petrate Spirit Lake massacre, 30, 
31; outbreak in Minnesota, 1862, 
76; on war path to the south, 76; 
brigade turns Indians northward, 
77; prevents trouble in Iowa, 78 

Skow, J. J., 99 

Slater, Mrs. Thomas, writes of early 
experiences, 104, 105; letter of, 
cited, 105 note 

Slater, Thomas, freight, 90; came to 
county, 102; tells of early experi- 
ences in, 102, 103, 104; letter of, 
cited, 104 note; prices of produce. 



described by, 105 ; statement of, 
cited, 105 note 

Slavery, as an issue in the Civil War, 
74 

Sleepy Eye, cliief of the Sioux, 18; 
chief of Indians near Crowley's, 
25; camped at Crowley's grove, 32 
note 

Sloan, Orrin, came to county, 85 

Sloan, W. S., came to county, 85 

Sloan, David, came to county, 85 

Sloan, William, 149 

Smith, History of Dickinson County, 
30; cited, 34 note 

Smith, Private, at Shippey 's, joins 
command after storm, 40 

Smith, Joe, 110 

Smith, Father J. J., first pastor of 
first church, 117; comes to Em- 
metsburg, 117; extent of Parish, 
117; wide influence of, through 
Northwest, 118; statement of, 
cited, 117 note; sketch of life of, 
118 note, portrait, 117 

Smithland, Indians go to, 30 ; trouble 
at, 30 

Snow, H. I., 97 

Snyder, J. M., 46 

Soda Bar, 55; postoffice established 
at, 56; staging from, 88 

Society of early pioneer, 55 

Soda Bar, Democrat published at, in 
1869, 8; published at, 119 

Sod houses, built by homesteaders. 
80, 81 

Soldiers, special land concessions to, 
80 

Soners, J. T., 101 

Soper, E. B., 139, 146 

South, The, in the Civil War, 74 

Spaulding, D. W., elected superin- 
tendent, 1867, Appendix A 

Spaulding, James, 101 

Spencer, stage line througli, 101, 113 

Spies, Jacob, 150 



198 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Spies, J. A., 150, 151 

Spirit Lake, peaceful settlement at, 
30; massacre at, 30, 31; detach- 
ment sent to bury dead at, 36 ; 
Myles Mahan stops at, 51; mail 
service to, 54; travel to, 50; Ma- 
han 's a half way house, 50 ; road 
to, staked out, 50, 51 ; stage to. 
117, 66 note; saw mill at, 85, 142, 
143 

Spirit Lake expedition, see relief ex- 
pedition 

Spirit Lake massacre, causes of, IH ; 
border troubles, causes of, 13, 25. 
30, 31; history of, cited, 30 note, 
31 note; Indians prisoners of, 
escape, 49, 50; memory of terrifies 
settlers, 78 

Springfield, United States troops 
quartered at, 35 

Springfield, Minnesota, Indians camp 
near, 30; refugees from, meet re- 
lief expedition, 35 

Sprout, C. N., 98 

Sprout, L. N., 98 

Sprout, A. L., 98 

Stafford, Bill, 153 

Stage, regular trips made by, 88; 
description of experiences in stag- 
ing, 88, 89, 90 ; routes of, 88, 89 

Stakes towns, 58; fight to build up, 
130, 131 

Starr, William, 113 

State election in, abstract of votes, 
71, 72 

Stebbins, J. P., came to county, 96 

Stedman, Sim R., elected auditor, 
1906, Appendix A ; elected auditor, 
1908, Appendix A 

Steil, Nicholas, came to county, 96 

Sterner, O. A., came to county, 96 

Stewart, Charles, came to county. So 

St. Louiis, 20 

St. Paul, 20 



Stock, restraining of, carried in 
county, Appendix D 

Stockdale, John M, buys swamp 
land, 59; cousin of Governor Kirk- 
wood, 59 note; secures appoint- 
ment of commissioner, 59, 60 ; se- 
cures control of land, 60; builds 
court house and school house, 60 ; 
assignee of Clark contract, 69 ; 
brought steam saw mill to county, 
85; assignee of contract for court 
house at Paoli, 86; suit against, 
86, 87; settlement of, 87; ditfi- 
culties over swamp titles, 139 

Straight, John, county seat commis- 
sioner, 60, 67 

Stratton, Lieutenant, 36 

Stone, Ira D., came to county, 83 

Stone, J. E., came to county, 96 

Stone, Mrs. Isabel McCormick, comes 
to county, 44; description of jour- 
ney, 44; letters of cited, 44 note 

Struthors', 56 

Stuehmer, Lewis, elected recorder, 
1888, Appendix A; elected record- 
er, 1890, Appendix A; elected re- 
corder, 1892, Appendix A 

Substitutes, hired from county for 
Civil War, 75, 76 

Supreme Court of Iowa, case involv- 
ing title in Palo Alto county, 63 

Swamp lands, diflSculties over, 139 

Swessinger, G., came to county, 96 

Sweeny, Michael, paper on relief ex- 
pedition, cited, 36 note 

Sylvester, Orrin, settled in county, 
48; elected coroner, 64; elected 
coroner, 1858, Appendix A 

Teachers ' Institute, Appendix D 
Telliauer, .1. C, came to county, 96 
Terwilliger, Chas , 155 
Teuland, stage route to, 89 
Thatcher, Julius, came to county, 96 
Thompson, William, 148 



INDEX 



199 



Thompson, J. M., 97 

Thoreson, Simon, 100 

Thoreson, Lars, 100 

Threshing machine, first in county, 
86 

Threshing for Martin Coonan, 1871, 
picture of, 107 

Tilford, James, 147 

Tobin-Mulroney settlement, at Soda 
Bar, 83 

Tobins & Mulroneys, saw mill at, 85 

Tobin & Company 's store, moved, 
129 

Tobin, Alice, came to county, 54; 
postmistress at Soda Bar, 56; 
postmistress, 88 

Tobins, hauls hay from Jacobs, 82 

Tobin, Thomas, came to county, 54; 
postmaster at Soda Bar, 56 ; elect- 
ed sheriff, 64 ; elected justice of 
the peace, 65 ; postmaster, 88 ; 
starts store at old town, 119, 121; 
trade of, while moving, 129; pop- 
ularity of store of, 130; builds 
brick store building, 133; elected 
sheriff, 1858, Appendix A; ]>or- 
trait, 56 

Town lots, sale of. in Emnietsburg. 
132 

Trade and Business in modern Palo 
Alto County, 156 

Trapping, by early settlers, 24, 51 ; 
at Mahan's, 51 

Treat, E. D., came to county, 97 

Trees, jilanting of, began early in 
Emmetsburg, 132, 133 

Tressler, F. W., came to county, 96 

Tribune, Palo Alto, cited, 134 note 

Troug, John, Sr., came to county, 96 

Turner, Frederick J., ' ' significance 
of the frontier in American his- 
tory," 10 note 

Umposhota, captures prisoner, 30 
Underwood, James H , came to coun- 



ty, 83 ; supervisor, 86 ; elected sup- 
erintendent and coroner, 1865, Ap- 
pendix A; elected clerk, 1866, Ap- 
pendix A 

Union, as an issue in the Civil War, 
74 

Union church, in old town, 118 

United States, soldierg of, protect- 
ing Indian title, 12; dragoons at 
forts for protection of frontier, 
13 ; troops of, march through Palo 
Alto county, 14 ; camp on shore of 
Lake in, 14; cession of Indians' 
lands to, 27; mounted troops of 
after Indians, 35 

Upper Des Moines Bepublican, cited, 
50 note 

Utter, A. W., editor of Pilot, 120; 
secretary Des Moines River R. R. 
Co., 141 

Valley House, hotel at old town, 

115, Appendix D 
Vance, E. P., came to county, 95 
Vanderryt, B., came to county, 96 
Van Gordon, P. F., settled near 

Graettinger, 102; portrait, 88 
Vernon Township, settlers in, 102 
Volunteers from, 75 

Wagner, Feed, 98 

Wagner, John, came to county. 96 

Walker, F. E., 98 

Wall Street, 137 

Walnut grove, camping at, 19 

Walnut township, first school in, 55, 
100; other settlers in, 101, 150 

Walsh, John, 98 

Walsh, Thomas, came to county, 85, 
121; elected recorder, 1878, Ap- 
pendix A; elected recorder, 1882, 
Appendix A; elected recorder, 
1880, Appendix A; elected record- 
er, 1884, Appendix A 

Walsh. Terrence, 98 



200 



HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY 



Walsh, Robert, 98 

Warrants, to pay for war substi- 
tutes, 75, 76 

Warren, C. S., came to county, 85 

Washington, soldiers reach, 75 

Water, high, on prairie, 99 

Waucousta, staging at, 89 

Waverly hotel, built, 133 

Waverly hotel, 128 

Wealth, of modern Palo Alto county, 
156 

Webster county, 60, 63, 67 

Webster City, nev.-s of massacre, 
stirs, 33 ; relief expedition raised 
at; officers from, 33 

Webster, H. A., 97 

Wells, A. A., gets right of way for 
railroad, 143, 150 

Wells, George, 155 

Wells, F. H , elected recorder, 1902; 
Appendix A ; elected recorder, 
1904, Ai^jiendix A 

Wening, M., came to county, 96 

Wessar, G., 98 

Wessar, Philip, 98 

Wessar, Theo., 98 

West Bend settlement, first settle- 
ment at, 15, 15 note ; Carter moved 
to, 16 note; building of first cab- 
ins at, 16; West Bend, W. D. 
Powers settled at, 20 ; importance 
of settlement at, 21; referred to, 
42; James Linn joins, 44; some 
setlers near, 44; McCormicks at, 
44, 45 ; John McCormick arrives 
at, 45; describes early experiences 
at, 45, 46; school at, 56; voted 
for Hickey party, 64; Carter en- 
lists from, 75; Jacobs family join, 
81, 85; staging at, 88, 89 

West Bend, town of, founded, 146; 
history of, 146, 147, 148 

West Bend township. Carter settled 
on Section 21 in, 16 note; Mc- 
Farlauds settle in, 43; new settlers 



after war, 83; new settlers in, 95. 
146 
West Bend house, 148 
Westward movement, description of 

the successive stages of, 10 
Whalen, Michael, came to county, 97 
Wheelock, brings news of massacre 

from lakes, 32 
White, Geo. M., came to county, 96 
White, E. J., builds house, 120 
White, James P., taught first school, 
55 ; came to county, 83 ; elected 
county treasurer, 83, 84, 87, 88; 
storm bound on stage, 89; buying 
warrants, 93, 94; candidate for 
county treasurer, 94, 113; forma 
partnership ^-ith Shea, 115; plays 
joke on Fitzgerald, 116; publishes 
Democrat, 119; elected treasurer, 
1865, Appendix A; elected sur- 
veyor, 1865, Appendix A; elected 
treasurer, 1867, Appendix A; 
elected treasurer, 1869, Appendix A 
White & Shea, office for holding 

court, 92; offix'e of moved, 128 
Whitehead, Charles E., 152, 153 
Whitman, G. V., came to county, 97 
Whitman, Ward, trapped in county, 
53 ; vote as candidate for clerk, 
71 
Wilcox, IX M., came to county, 96 
Wild fowl, abundant, 24 
Wildey, Leslie, 151 
Wiley, William, came to county, 97 
Williams, Major William, takes 
charge of expedition for relief of 
Spirit Lake people, 33 ; takes pre- 
cautions against Indian surprise, 
35; secures provisions, 36; at 
Shippey's, joins command after 
storm, 40 
Williams, O. O , came to county, 96 
Williams, .Tamos E., elected county 
attorney, 1906, Ajipendix A; elect- 



INDEX 



201 



ed county attorney, 1908, Append- 
ix A 

Williamson, Ole, came to county, 97 
.Willis, Charles, came to county, 97 

Wilson, J. J., freight line, 90 

Wilson, T. C, came to county, 85 

Wisconsin, 43, 102 

Wisconsin territorial legislature, 62 ; 
journal of cited, 62 note 

Winnipeg, 142 

Women, self sacrifice of pioneer, 106 

Woodin, Freeman, 98 



Wooley, John, 98 

Yankton Indians, capture W. D. 
Powers at Devil's Lake, 21 

Yeager, C. P., 98 

Young, Dr. A. C, came to county, 97 

Young, J. C, came to county, 97; 
statement of, cited, 97 note; 
moved to Emmetsburg, 97; state- 
ment of, cited, 133 

Zahn, George, 151 
Ziegler, Charles, 153 



I 



